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MEMOIRS OF 

LI HUNG CHANG 

EDITED BY 

WILLIAM FRANCIS MANNIX 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
HON. JOHN W. FOSTER 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

(iCiJC lMatt0ii>e }^xe0 Cambriboc 

1913 






COPYRIGHT, I9I3, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

Published October 1QT3 



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>CI,A357159 



EDITOR'S PREFACE 

It is believed that the memoirs of Li Hung Chang 
will speak for themselves, or, better, for the famous 
Viceroy, who in the flesh was ever ready to speak 
for the betterment of his country and her people. 
Still it is deemed advisable here to call the reader's 
attention to the form in which the translated tran- 
scriptions are given to the public. 

The Viceroy was by no means a careful diarist; 
indeed, the contrary was true. Many of his manu- 
scripts were left in Hankow when he went north to 
Tientsin; and the writings of twenty-four years in 
the latter city were undisturbed in his rich private 
lodge until about two years ago, when from half a 
score of cities of China — Hankow, Canton, Shang- 
hai, Nanking, Suchau, Peking, Tientsin, and others 
— his writings were collected by a provincial gov- 
ernor of the two Kwangs provinces, a nephew of 
Li's, and deposited in the palatial residence of the 
former Viceroy at Canton. 

With the permission of the Imperial Government 
nearly two years ago, and the consent of the trustees 
and heirs of Li Hung Chang's estate, the great mass 
of documents and notes were examined, and care- 
fully translated by Major R. Emmet Roberts, a 
secretary of the late Viceroy, assisted by Drs. Wang, 
of Peking, and Hsiu-Tsai, the Elder, of Canton. 



vi EDITOR'S PREFACE 

Over one hundred and seventy thousand words 
of the Viceroy's memoirs were translated and dili- 
gently compared; and from this large mass, these 
notes — comprising the only writings of the Grand 
Secretary that have ever been rendered into English 
— are for the first time offered to the public of 
England and America. 

It will be remarked that various subjects are 
treated under separate titles. The original manu- 
.scripts, found in many different cities of China, and 
placed at our disposal through the great kindness of 
family and friends, and with the consent of the 
Imperial Government, — nearly two years ago, — 
treated, of course, of a multitude of subjects. A line 
— a column of characters — would be the sum- total 
of comment at a particular time; while, later on, 
when perhaps the Viceroy occupied a wholly differ- 
ent post, maybe in another part of the empire, he 
would revert to the subject and, it might be, write 
three, five, or twenty pages. Still later, again, he 
would express himself upon the same subject from a 
different or new viewpoint. 

It was thought best, therefore, — and particu- 
larly as it was manifestly out of the question, because 
of their great bulk, to publish his entire writings, 
which amount to the equivalent of some one million 
six hundred thousand English words, — to make 
selections from his diary and other manuscripts to 
be grouped together under appropriate heads, at 
the same time arranging them chronologically. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE vli 

And this calls for the second and final explanation. 
While the translators found little difficulty in render- 
ing into English the beautifully executed characters 
of the great Viceroy, they were sorely distracted in 
the matter of determining dates; for in his earlier 
years, and up to the time of his appearance as Vice- 
roy at Tientsin, Li marked his manuscripts in a way 
of his own : in strange cycles and reigns. So confusing 
was this, even to the Chinese scholars engaged in 
the work, that they agreed to omit many of them, 
unanimously asserting that to ascertain with exact- 
ness when each entry was made would require a 
year's time of an expert Chinese historian! 

Even from 1870 onward, Li, though making use 
generally of more modern methods, went to extremes 
in the dating of some of his entries and manuscripts, 
writing, for example, "12th Day of the 5th Moon, 
of the loth Year of Kuang Su. Hour of the Sheep," 
to identify the time of putting upon paper a few 
unimportant statements, and quite ignoring to 
state time or place in connection with comments or 
historical data of world-wide interest. In some of 
these latter, dates have been supplied, for the pur- 
pose of associating the matter with the proper period 
of the Viceroy's life, rather than because of any belief 
that either their presence or absence would add to or 
detract from the political or literary value of his 
words. 

It may be said that this volume does not presume 
to present all that Li Hung Chang wrote upon the 



viii EDITOR'S PREFACE 

subjects given herein under the various part titles, 
or even a larger portion; but in the making of the 
selections it has been the aim of the Editor to include 
those which he believed held the widest and most 
enduring interest. 

W. F. M. 

Shanghai, December i, 1912. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction, by Hon. John W. Foster 
I. His Ambitions in Literature . 
n. His Views of Christianity 
HI. Relations with General Gordon 
IV. At the Shrine of Lady Yuen Fi . 
V. In the Time of Famine 
VI. Devotion to Agriculture . 
VI I. Afterthoughts of the Japanese War 
VIII. A Coup d'£tat on the Horizon . 
IX. At the Czar's Coronation 
X. Men and Things in Germany 
XL In France and England 
XII. The Atlantic Voyage and New York 

XIII. What he saw in America . 

XIV. Short Notes from his Diary 
XV. His Task in the Boxer Crisis 

XVI. Called to the Throne's Aid 
XVII. His Fight to hold Korea . 
XVI 11. The Cession of Formosa . 
XIX. Estimates of Prominent Persons . 
XX. The Opium Habit and Traffic 
Appendix: Poetical Writings on Opium 



XI 

I 
13 

43 

72 

85 
88 

97 
123 
141 
156 
169 

183 
198 
212 
220 
228 
249 
261 
272 
281 
295 



INTRODUCTION 

Li Hung Chang was not only the greatest man the 
Chinese race has produced in modern times, but, in 
a combination of quahties, the most unique person- 
ality of the past century among all the nations of 
the world. He was distinguished as a man of letters; 
as a soldier in important campaigns he rendered 
valuable services to his country; as a statesman for 
thirty years he maintained a recognised preeminence 
over his countrymen in the oldest and most populous 
nation of the earth ; and as a diplomat his achieve- 
ments entitle him to a front rank in the international 
relations of all history. 

The last one hundred years have produced many 
men of scholarship, several great generals, a number 
of statesmen of distinguished ability and success, 
and a few diplomats of high rank; but no one of these 
can be singled out as having combined in his person 
all these attainments in such an eminent degree 
as Li Hung Chang. Because of his distinction in 
all these fields of human activity, we should wel- 
come these memoirs, extracted from his volumin- 
ous diary, as a valuable contribution for the better 
understanding of his character and services. 

In forming an estimate of any man, the age in 
which he lived and his environment are to be con- 
sidered. It is hardly just to estimate the character 



xii INTRODUCTION 

and attainments of Li Hung Chang according to the 
standard of European or Western nations. His 
education was exclusively Oriental, and until he 
had passed the allotted Scriptural period of man's 
life, his had been spent entirely in China. His 
knowledge of our civilisation was only such as could 
be acquired in the motley society of a treaty port. 
As a statesman he had to deal with a very conserva- 
tive and bigoted constituency, and with associates 
prejudiced against and ignorant of foreign nations. 
He was born and reared in a rural community, of 
worthy but not distinguished parentage. His father, 
of the "gentry" class, had successfully passed the 
examinations, but held no official position, and was 
possessed of no means of procuring his son's advance- 
ment beyond affording him an opportunity to pursue 
his studies and fit himself for the examinations. 
These he successfully passed in all grades, and in the 
final contest at Peking he came out with distin- 
guished honours among twenty thousand competi- 
tors. Later he was made a member of the Han-lin 
College, which corresponds somewhat to the French 
Academy. 

He therefore had reason to take pride in his 
accomplishments and standing as a scholar, and 
throughout his career he was recognised by his 
countrymen as in the first rank among the men of 
letters. Some of his writings in prose and poetry 
had wide circulation in the empire and gained him 
much praise. His diary shows that he himself put 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

great store on his literary attainments, and until 
late in life, when absorbed in the weighty affairs of 
state, his highest ambition was to be recognised as 
the poet-laureate of his people. 

In his early manhood he thought only of a literary 
career ; but the course of public affairs was destined 
to defeat his expectation, and turn his life into an 
entirely different channel. The Taiping Rebellion, 
one of the most sanguinary in the history of the 
human race, had its inception during his student 
days; and about the time of his return from the 
imperial capital to his home to receive the honours 
which every Chinese community showers upon its 
successful students, the rebellion had assumed its 
most alarming proportions. As he reached his 
father's house he saw the rebels pass by on their 
triumphant march towards Peking. His patriotism 
was stirred within him as he saw the dynasty which 
had conferred on him such high honours and the 
ancient government in imminent peril. He at once 
set to work to raise a volunteer regiment to fall upon 
and harass the rear of the enemy. His diary reveals 
the man: "Everybody knows that a soldier is de- 
spised, and that, according to the Old Rules, I am 
leaving the greatest of the professions for the worst 
of occupations. . . . But is this a time for writing 
poetry ? Who cares for romances when fire and sword 
are in the land?" 

The next four years found him actively engaged in 
warfare; and he showed such aptitude for the pro- 



1/ 



xiv ' INTRODUCTION 

fession that he had the distinction of being in com- 
mand of the army which gave the death-blow to 
the rebelHon. In this period he had under his com- 
mand the American soldier, General Ward, who 
organised the "Ever Victorious Army," and General 
Gordon, who assumed its leadership on the heroic 
death of Ward. The diary gives great credit to the 
latter, and reveals not only a high appreciation of 
the services of Gordon, but an accurate comprehen- 
sion of his merits and defects. 

His military career continued for some years, 
owing to the disordered state of the country, coupled 
with civil duties of high responsibility, until he was 
called by the Emperor to face the crisis occasioned 
by the riots in Tientsin in 1870, which threatened 
a war with France. He brought with him to this 
important viceroyalty a high reputation for military 
skill, great administrative capacity, and devoted 
loyalty to the reigning dynasty; and was thence- 
forth regarded as one of the most famous men of his 
nation. His successful termination of the questions 
growing out of the riots so impressed the Imperial 
Government that it showered upon him new and 
almost unprecedented honours. In addition to his 
appointment as Viceroy of the metropolitan prov- 
ince of Chihli, he was named Imperial Tutor, 
Grand Secretary of State, Superintendent of Trade, 
and a noble of the first rank. These high titles made 
him the first official and statesman of the Govern- 
ment of the Emperor. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

For twenty-five years continuously he discharged 
the duties of these high offices from his residence at 
Tientsin, with occasional visits to Peking. Because 
of his high rank and of his location at the seaport 
to the capital, he was brought into contact with all 
persons having business with the Government, and 
stood as a sentinel on the outpost for his secluded 
Emperor. As the virtual head of the Chinese For- 
eign Office, he proved himself a match for the most 
astute of the trained European diplomatists. While 
the jealous guardian of his country's interests, he 
always secured the confidence and esteem of the 
foreign ministers with whom he conducted negotia- 
tions. 

Probably no man of his time received such signal 
marks of respect from his diplomatic antagonists 
as he. In a serious controversy with Great Britain, 
he was so straightforward and just in meeting the 
demands of that Government that Sir Thomas Wade 
stated that he was led to make an important con- 
cession expressly to him "in recognition of the 
frankness with which he had negotiated this trouble- 
some business." In the adjustment of the French 
conflict with China of 1885, the French Minister 
inserted in the treaty a renunciation of all claim for 
indemnity, in order thereby "to pay a mark of 
regard to the patriotic wisdom of His Excellency Li 
Hung Chang." 

When the Japanese Government In 1895 refused 
to receive the first peace commissioners, the Prime 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

Minister, Count Ito, sent a message to Peking that 
if Li Hung Chang should be appointed, he would be 
received and treated with the highest consideration; 
and the sequel realised to the greatest extent this 
high estimate of his character and ability. In prep- 
aration for the ceremonies of the coronation of 
Emperor Nicholas II, the Czar himself sent a per- 
sonal request to the Chinese Emperor that Li Hung 
Chang should be entrusted with the mission of 
special Ambassador for that occasion. It has been 
charged that the Viceroy was under the undue 
influence of Russia, it even being asserted that he 
had been controlled in his conduct by corrupt 
motives. The publication of this diary will set at 
rest all such insinuations, as it makes it clear that 
he correctly estimated the schemes of that Govern- 
ment, and that in his relations with it his conduct 
was patriotic. 

In a country where office was greatly sought after 
as a stepping-stone to power and self-aggrandise- 
ment, it was natural that a man in his high position 
would have enemies among his own countrymen. 
His diary shows that they were numerous, and that 
he visited some of them with intense antagonism. 
But the mass of his countrymen recognised him as 
the first and ablest of the public officials, and paid 
him honour as such. This was demonstrated in a 
notable manner on the observance of his seventieth 
birthday. The Emperor sent various rich and appro- 
priate gifts, with flattering inscriptions written in his 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

own hand; the Empress Dowager vied with her 
imperial ward in her gifts; subjects of high and low 
degree and foreign residents lavished upon him 
presents and mementoes; processions, ceremonies, 
and banquets in Chinese profusion were the order 
of the day; and all culminated in an address signed 
by the leading officials throughout the empire, 
written by Chang Chi-tung, next to the Viceroy the 
most honoured and influential man in the country, 
and often his political opponent. As a specimen of 
Chinese eulogy an extract may be interesting : — 

"You are altogether to be admired; in literature 
deep, in warcraft terrible, in perception acute, in 
genius sublime, entrenched on every side, unassail- 
able. ... As I stand beside you in the Han-lin, I 
feel how small I am, how little able to grapple with 
the great matters met within my province on the 
great river. In you we have perfect confidence, and 
I earnestly desire to learn from you. Compared 
with you, I am as a simple peasant to a picked archer, 
a poor jade to a fleet racer. You are men's ideal; 
you, like Kang Hou, enjoy the confidence of our 
Sovereign; yours is the glory of Chang the Council- 
lor. You are the cynosure of all eyes." 

Although in his public life the Viceroy was of 
stern and unrelenting character and apparently 
indifferent to human life, the diary reveals in many 
places a tender heart and sympathetic nature. His 
devotion to his mother was most touching. Her last 
illness and death occurred in a distant province 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

while he was immersed in important affairs of state 
at Tientsin. He memorialised the Empress Regents 
for a leave of absence to go to her bedside in which 
he said: **She is eighty-three years old and her con- 
stitution is breaking up; and the thought of her 
absent son continually recurs to her and makes her 
illness more dangerous. When memorialist heard 
this his heart burned with anxiety, and his sleep and 
his food were worthless. Since he bade her farewell 
thirteen years ago, he has never seen his mother's 
face." 

A leave of absence for one month was granted him, 
but before he could start on his journey news came 
of her death, and he petitioned for the usual retire- 
ment of three years for mourning, but the Empress 
Regents answered that the state of public affairs 
would only allow of one hundred days. But this did 
not satisfy his grief at the failure to reach his mother 
before her death, and he sent another lengthy 
memorial, saying: "Remorse will haunt memorialist 
all his life, and there is a wound in his heart that 
prevents him privately from enjoying a moment's 
respite from pain, and publicly from being of any 
service to the state. . . . Even if he, separated 
beyond hope from meeting his mother, the living 
from the dead, were to spend three years in lamenta- 
tions at her tomb, it would not avail to relieve his 
soul from the poignant and inexpressible regret he 
feels for his lack of filial duty." We find that years 
after, when absorbed in his official duties, he records 



INTRODUCTION xix 

that fourteen years had passed that day since his 
mother died and that he secluded himself from all 
callers. "With all the incidents of my life, its trials 
and lamentations, its moments of joy and pride, 
with all and every affair of life, I cannot forget my 
celestial mother and all she was and is to me." 

The unique correspondence with the Empress 
Regents brings out one of the most distinguished 
traits of Chinese character — veneration for parents, 
which has become sanctified into religious worship, 
and also has exercised a marked influence on the 
political relations of the people, the Emperor being 
the parental head of the nation. If the fifth com- 
mandment of the Mosaic code were as faithfully 
observed by Christian nations as the central doc- 
trine of the Confucian philosophy is practised by 
the Celestials, the social order of the Western world 
would be greatly improved. 

We see something more of the Viceroy's humanity 
when, in the midst of the battle, the grim warrior 
stood beside the bedside of the American General 
Ward, and the tears flowed down his cheeks as he 
thought of the soldier dying for China, "so far from 
his family and friends." His sympathetic nature 
was shown, also, in the fearful famine which during 
his viceroyalty visited Chihli and the neighbouring 
provinces. He was the most prominent agent in 
staying the ravages of this fatal scourge, and his 
energy, business capacity, and large-hearted charity 
were conspicuously displayed in the measures for 



XX INTRODUCTION 

relief. In addition to the public and charitable funds 
which he disbursed, the diary shows that he fed 
daily from his own table between one and two thou- 
sand of the starving, and from his own purse near 
five thousand in the near-by villages. "My mother 
is blessing me every day for this work; and she says 
the Gods as well as the people will not forget that 
my wealth, such as I have, is not withheld from the 
poor and needy." 

In nothing is the diary more useful than in show- 
ing the development of Li Hung Chang's mind 
respecting foreigners and the Christian missionaries, 
and how with growing experience his ideas under- 
went a complete change. Early in his public career, 
when his knowledge was limited to a brief inter- 
course with foreigners at Shanghai during the 
Taiping Rebellion, he partook strongly of the hatred 
and prejudice of the masses. At this time he records, 
"I hate all foreigners." But fifteen years later, 
when he had become better acquainted with the ills 
which afilicted his country, and just as he was 
starting to assume his duties at Tientsin and put an 
end to the anti-foreign riots, he writes: ''In spite of 
all dislikes, if we truly have the best interests of 
China at heart, we will no longer oppose the coming 
of the foreigner, for he is bound to come anyway, 
even if he must ride behind a bayonet or sit upon the 
big gun of a warship." And he expressed great 
pleasure that the Throne had selected him for the 
task at Tientsin. About this time he records that 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

he is preparing an article advocating the right of 
foreigners to reside in China, which he intends to 
submit to the Throne and have printed and circu- 
lated in every province. After his coming to Tientsin 
foreigners were fully protected in the provinces 
under his administration. He was not blind to their 
encroachments and arrogance, but he recognised 
their usefulness to the country and that they were 
entitled to protection. At the beginning of the 
Boxer outbreak, when Viceroy at Canton, he reports 
that some of the viceroys had received orders to be 
prepared to despatch all foreigners, which he terms 
"dastardly commands. How well the authors knew 
better than to send such outrageous documents to 
me." When we call to mind the experience China 
has had with certain Western nations, it does not 
seem strange that his attachment to foreigners in 
general should not have been very ardent, but he 
came to feel the need of foreign aid, and solicited 
it and gave it proper welcome. 

The Viceroy's mind underwent much the same 
experience respecting Christianity and missionaries. 
As he reached manhood he possessed the same igno- 
rance and hatred of missionaries and their work as 
prevailed generally throughout the country, referred 
to them as "foreign devils," and treated their doc- 
trines with scorn. But gradually, as he became per- 
sonally better informed as to their work, he revised 
his judgment. Soon after assuming charge at Tient- 
sin he notes a conference with Tseng-Kofan, the 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

great statesman of that day, who, he says, "like 
myself, has changed his views exceedingly in the 
past five or six years, and is no longer a hater of 
the Christians." Fifteen years later he went so far 
as to put Christ and Confucius on the same exalted 
plane and to assert that if he were in England or 
America he would want to call himself a Christian. 
He treats their doctrines as philosophic or moral, 
and fails to comprehend the spiritual quality of the 
teaching and mission of Christ. But his prejudice 
against Christianity had disappeared, and he said 
that there were millions in China who would be 
benefited by a knowledge of Jesus, as they do not 
trouble themselves to follow Confucius. Neverthe- 
less, the inconsistencies of the Christian nations did 
not fail to attract his attention. He notes how they 
fight among themselves and cherish most bitter 
hatred against each other. "The French hate the 
Germans, and the Russians kill the Jews, but they 
are all Christians when they come to China"; and 
he refers to the action of Great Britain in forcing 
opium on the Chinese as one of the impediments to 
the progress of Christianity, with this closing com- 
ment: "A great nation, a Christian nation above all 
things, has given this awful blight to the Middle 
Kingdom. What are our people to think?" 

In the seventy-fifth year of his age, Li Hung 
Chang made his first journey to foreign lands. It 
was a memorable event in his life. The occasion of it 
was the coronation of the Emperor of Russia. This 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

ceremony brought together at the ancient Muscovite 
capital such a representation of the nations of the 
earth as was never before assembled in the world. 
And it is safe to say that the most notable personage 
in that august assemblage was the representative of 
the "Son of Heaven," the Emperor of China. In 
length of public service, in the character and impor- 
tance of that service and of the myriads of people 
in whose behalf it was rendered, in his intellectual 
attainments, his unique characteristics, and in his 
commanding personality, the Chinese representa- 
tive was the most conspicuous witness of the young 
Czar's coronation. 

Aside from his distinguished services and his high 
offices, he was a man well suited to be placed at the 
head of an imposing embassy, and to represent his 
imperial master. He was of pure Chinese extraction, 
having no mixture of Manchu blood. Although in 
his seventy-fifth year, he was in fair degree of health 
and vigour, of fine physique, full six feet in height, 
of commanding presence, erect and stoutly built, 
with dark, piercing eyes, and a face strongly moulded 
and indicative of strength of character, and that 
would command attention in any foreign circle. 
Dressed in his parti-coloured silken robes, and his hat 
decorated with the three-eyed peacock feathers, he 
could not fail to attract attention. 

The Viceroy having made the journey to Russia 
via the Suez Canal, he continued the circumnaviga- 
tion of the globe by way of the Western nations of 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

Europe and America, in the course of which he met 
the crowned heads and leading statesmen of those 
countries, received marked ovations everjrwhere by 
the officials and people, witnessed military and 
naval reviews, and saw the marvellous industrial 
and social development of Occidental civilisation. 
He returned to his home land more impressed than 
ever with its needs of the elements which had made 
those nations so powerful and prosperous. Had he 
possessed this knowledge at the beginning of his 
public career, how much more valuable would have 
been the services to the country of this commanding 
personality, and how much greater the credit he 
deserves for having served it so well in ignorance of 
the great world beyond the confines of the Middle 
Kingdom. 

The diary gives us new light upon his relations 
and personal intercourse with Their Majesties and 
especially with the Empress Dowager, Tze Hsi, that 
notable woman, who for half a century was the ruling 
spirit of the Chinese Government. At four different 
times in his career he was stripped of his "yellow 
jacket" and all his honours, and disgraced in the eyes 
of his countrymen by that irascible woman, yet he 
remained loyal to the Throne, assured that she knew 
the value of his services and would again bestow 
upon him honour and high duty. He records: 
"Whenever there is trouble, I am always the physi- 
cian in attendance, but, instead of collecting a fee, I 
am usually subject to a fine for my trouble and skill." 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

On several occasions, when the fate of the nation 
was In peril, although under the shadow of her dis- 
pleasure, he did not hesitate to seek an audience 
with the Empress Dowager. When the war party 
had gained the ascendancy and hostilities were about 
to be declared against Japan, he remonstrated so 
strongly with her against the step that " Her Majesty 
flew Into the worst rage In late times," and sent him 
away stripped of his Insignia of honour. Again when 
the Boxer outbreak was preparing, although he was 
in retirement and without office, knowing that she 
was falling under the Influence of that movement, 
he records, " I am leaving for Peking to-night, deter- 
mined to see Tze HsI herself, and present the situa- 
tion to her In the plainest manner." A lengthy Inter- 
view occurred, but It ended with the Empress 
Dowager "alive with wrath and angry words" and 
the Viceroy sent from the palace, never again to 
appear In her presence. She was evidently committed 
to the Boxer movement and he was powerless to 
avert the calamity that was Impending. 

Notwithstanding the diary reveals the Empress 
Dowager as an arrogant, cruel, and headstrong 
woman, and the Emperor as a weakling, through all 
vicissitudes the Viceroy remained faithful to the 
Manchu Dynasty. When following the upheaval 
and the siege of the legations the suggestion was 
made In diplomatic circles and the press that the 
reigning family be deposed and a new emperor placed 
on the throne, he denounced It as so much Idle talk, 



xxvi INTRODUCTION 

and recorded in his diary, as he made known to the 
diplomatic corps, that there was no Chinese family 
sufficiently respected to rule the country in peace 
and order. 

The last service he rendered his country was the 
crowning act of his long career. After the Empress 
Dowager and the Court had fled from the capital, 
as the allied armies occupied Peking and rescued the 
legations and foreign refugees, the nations which 
had been so grossly outraged instructed their diplo- 
matic representatives to seek the punishment of the 
guilty officials and exact full indemnity for the losses 
sustained. Notwithstanding Li Hung Chang had 
been driven from her presence with angry words 
and banished to a distant province at Canton, from 
her hiding-place in the mountains she summoned 
him to Peking to meet the angry and determined 
diplomats, and save the throne from extinction and 
the empire from dismemberment. 

Although the disease which brought him to the 
grave was rapidly undermining his strength, he 
made the long journey back to the capital. On his 
way, at Tientsin, he makes this entry in his diary: 
" I fear the task before me is too great for my strength 
of body, though I would do one thing more before I 
call the earthly battle over. I would have the for- 
eigners believe in us once more, and not deprive 
China of her national life." His labours were suc- 
cessful, thanks in large measure to the high consid- 
eration shown him by the foreign negotiators. It is 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

gratifying to Americans to know that in his diary 
he gives our Government great credit for aiding him 
to save his country from dismemberment and from 
conditions too burdensome to endure. 

Within a few weeks after he signed the Protocol 
which gave his country peace, he ended his earthly 
life in the seventy-ninth year of his age. It was a 
fitting end to the stormy career of the greatest of 
Oriental statesmen, and one of the most distinguished 
of the public men of the world. 

John W. Foster. 

May, 1913. 



MEMOIRS OF 

LI HUNG CHANG 

CHAPTER I 

HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE 

"Some day I hope to be the Chang-yuan [the poet- 
laureate] of China." 

These significant words, of such interest to the 
student of the Hfe of Li Hung Chang, were written 
by him as early as 1846, while the industrious and 
brilliant young man was preparing for those higher 
examinations which he was to take a year later, 
when he would go up for the highest literary water- 
mark of his country — the Metropolitan or Third 
Degree of the Han-lin. 

That honour he gained fully, and since he ranked 
among the three most successful in a total of four 
thousand, it may be assumed that, notwithstanding 
Western views of Chinese educational methods, he 
might rightly claim a place among the highly edu- 
cated and gifted young men of his country and 
generation. 

That his aspirations were lofty his own words 
tell, and that his industry and ability were in a very 
large degree of a kind making the attainment of 
his ambitions, in whatever channel they might tend, 



2 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG ; CHANG 

possible, no one who has followed his career of notable 
achievement and high recognition will gainsay. 

Li's memoirs, the words he wrote from time to 
time, often carelessly, often with apparent haste, 
and again with a style and diction indicating diligent 
and laborious thought, all point to one supreme fact: 
that from the beginning of his school-days almost to 
the day of his death he cherished, above all others, 
the profession of literature, and that it was his hope 
to be known in the future story of his country as a 
poet, essayist, and historian. 

"Some day I hope to be the poet-laureate of 
China," he wrote in 1846. " I am a newspaper man 
myself," he said to a New York reporter exactly 
fifty years later. 

^^ January, 1846. — ^^This day I completed the last 
of my examinations, and I know I have won the 
Ready-for-Office degree! I know, too, that I passed 
high, for I wrote and wrote with great ease; and the 
classics I can repeat word for word. 

"I believe if the great Emperor Chow — oh! how 
great he was in learning and in the arts ! — would 
submit me to an examination, I would please him 
by my answers. Yes, and some arts that have grown 
and flourished since his time, in which I would sur- 
prise him ! He taught that all the six arts were neces- 
sary for a man's life and happiness, but he did not 
speak much of the classics, for the very good reason 
that the classics were not as important as now. 



HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE 3 

"The good King of Learning made music the first. 
I am deficient in that, for in these days it is not 
gentlemen who play in the streets nor sing at fairs. 
Archery I know little of, but it would come to me 
with slight practice, for in our family 2800 years ago, 
or 2900, — I shall figure this out, — a great ancestor, 
now among the chieftains of the Celestial Kingdom, 
was famous for his archery. He made the first bows 
in all Asia, drew them from the hearts of unknown 
trees, kept them for long weeks immersed in the 
brine of young sows, and turned them out the strong- 
est and with the greatest accuracy of spring in all 
the world. I could practise archery now and become 
expert, but I do not want to become a soldier, and 
there is no hunting by which a young man could live 
in these days. 

"The same in horsemanship. The horses are not 
used much. I mean there is only a horse to a league 
these days, and I do not expect to go north or west 
to ride camels. Besides, riding camels is not horse- 
manship. 

"But in the other arts of Chow I know I would 
please him, just as I have pleased [here the young 
graduate gives a list of more than two hundred and 
seventy names] . . . with the progress I have made. 
In the memorising of the classics, in handwriting — 
my characters are clean and artistic, the most so in 
the college the doctors say — in mathematics, even 
into remote algebra, in astronomy, and in social and 
religious rites I am elated and confident. Astronomy 



4 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

I shall study more and more; it, and pure literature, 
for who can be a great poet unless he understand 
the movements in the heavens, and know the 
planets and their orbits by name and rote? 

"It is not given to any man to indite great 
classics merely because he is a graduate of the 
Third College [LL.D.], but if he have the education, 
and behind the education the love, and behind the 
love the desire and purpose, he can do work that 
will make his name live gloriously among his 
countrymen. 

" I have all these now. I am between twenty-four 
and twenty-five years of age. My father is between 
forty-one and forty-two. That is a difference of 
seventeen. In such a length of time, if I do not suffer 
accident through the night, or am not set upon by 
ruffians in this brawly neighbourhood, and if the 
governor or viceroy give me a place under him, I 
shall do much to advance myself in my own esteem 
and in the esteem of others. People would laugh at 
me, perhaps, the students would stone me, and the 
professors and friends, especially [another long list 
of names] . . . might not think it possible, but some 
day I hope to be the Chang-yuan of China." 

^'January 27, 1846. — To-day I finished reading 
for the ninth time the fine lesser classics, 'Lieh Nu 
Chuen' [The Record of Cultured Women]. My 
list of books is not large, but I am making good 
use of those I have. Each time I peruse one thor- 



HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE 5 

oughly I make a note within it, with the time of 
beginning and the time of ending set down. 

"This is one of the classics no part of which I 
have yet attempted to memorise ; but there are niany 
beautiful passages, and the record tells of such 
lovely and heroic women that it is most interesting. 
The story of Wha-Mou-Loh is most fascinating, 
and already I have begun some stanzas to her 
memory." 

^^ January 28. — My people are bringing the 
matter of my marriage too earnestly before me. 
This is true more particularly of my uncle, quite 
more so than my father, for they are together in 
arranging a matrimonial alliance for me with a 
Sweet Blossom of Hoh-fei. The young woman is 
exceedingly virtuous, so far as I have been able to 
learn, and my mother vouches for her good in all 
things. And in her personal appearance there is 
everything to entice a young man who might have 
any desires for matrimony in his head. But an 
ancient saying is, 'Take a blossom early and some 
of the fruit of your life-tree is gone,' and it has 
impressed me greatly with its truth. 

"It is not that I do not want this sweet maiden 
of respectable family. Her family is equal to ours 
in wealth and standing, but I am, as yet, not in a 
position to justify the beginning of a family — re- 
gardless of what my uncle may say, or of my pro- 
spective patrimony. 



6 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"I do not know, of course; but I am of the belief 
that my life will be a long one, and that sufficient 
opportunity will be given me to raise up fruit that 
will honour my memory. It is holy and right that 
one should beget many sons to love his memory and 
make great his grave, and on no account will I 
oppose the law and the religion. 

'* . . . My good chum, Ah Fing, called, and we 
had a long and serious conversation. He tells me 
that his most severe parent desires that he take as 
wife the child-daughter of the law-aunt at Po — 
that he has never seen her, does not wish to, and will 
soon start for the south. 

"Ah Fing is a good young man, and full of indus- 
try and straight habits. He, too, believes he will 
follow 'the calling of literature, and he brought 
several long scrolls of romances which he has 
written since our days together when both were 
studying for the chu-jen [promoted scholar] degree. 
I could not hurt him so much as to tell him that while 
his romances seemed most interesting his language 
was too plain, and like the speech of the street people. 
I did, though, criticise his manuscript, for he writes 
a tsao tsz style [a sort of abbreviated character 
writing], and even that is homely and without grace. 
He was slightly put out, I fancy, when I exhibited 
to him some of my compositions in the best hing-shu, 
with elaborate ornament work and dainty colours in 
the high and left corners. 

"It has always been my idea that carelessness 



HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE 7 

in any branch of art or work or even thought is bad. 
Perhaps it is egotistical for me to write in my own 
book this way about myself; but many, yes, thou- 
sands of men before me, have thus kept records of 
their lives, and have not hesitated to express their 
thoughts; and it is good to write down what one 
thinks. But Ah Fing's careless ways, together with 
the fact that he has no ink in his stomach [i.e., no 
literary ability], make it appear to me that he will 
make but a precarious living with his pen. I did not 
tell him so; for so many unkind things have been 
said to me, and they have cut so deeply, that it is 
not my purpose to make light of the attempts of 
others, nor to discourage them in their honest am- 
bitions. 

"But I hope that I shall never grow so careless 
as poor brother Ah Fing. Ah ! if I had failed to pass 
the chu-jen, as he did — he even failed thrice in 
the Budding Genius examinations — I would have 
hidden my body in the hills or let it float in the 
river!" 

^^ March 19. — There is bounding happiness in 
my inmost heart to-day, for I have been given a 
regular place in the office of the chi-fu [head] of the 
prefecture, and I know that my start on the right 
way to political progress has been made! 

"My noble and severe parent also rejoices, and 
my mild mother is happy beyond compare. I do 
not know how my uncle feels, or whether he has yet 



8 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

learned the glad tidings; but he will soon know, for 
my father has gone in his chair to tell him, and to 
invite him to a feast we will enjoy to-morrow. 

"Perhaps I shall marry now. The Sweet Blossom 
wants me, according to what she has told the go- 
between, and also what her mother has said to 
mine." 

''Late. Between the days. — It has been impossible 
for me to close an eye and keep it closed, so good 
do my spirits feel over the fortunate tidings. Even 
my uncle, in his home on the Hong road, heard the 
news before my father had arrived, and had started 
for our house with two fat geese and a fish. They 
missed each other on the way, for father went on the 
highroad by the fruit wall, while uncle took the 
main Hong road direct to the yamen of the fu in 
order to thank the latter and leave a present. 

"Uncle is claiming that my good fortune is largely 
due to him, owing to his intimate acquaintance with 
the fu. He, himself, was a collector of liken for a 
number of years. 

"Of course I did not dispute my uncle, but 
thanked him generously and upon my knees. Yet 
every one roundabout knew that four days ago the 
hein-kwan [district magistrate], the honourable 
Pi-wang, sent for me, and spake the most encour- 
aging words I have heard for many moons: — 

"*Do you remember, Li, when you stole my 
goslings from the Splendid Water LakeP'i 



HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE 9 

"I told him that I remembered it well, though 
the wrong happened many years ago. 

" ' Do you remember the time you cast the cobble 
and nearly killed the little daughter of Wee, the one 
daughter he would not have die for anything?' 

"I told him my memory was very good yet very 
sorrowful upon that affair. And I explained, as I 
had done before, that I was fighting with the Hop-e 
boy, and had no intention of hurting the little girl. 

'"Well, Li,' continued the district magistrate, 
'it was my opinion in those days that you would 
some day come to a ling-chi death [of a thousand 
slashes], and my heart was made glad when I saw 
you wince under the blows you received in punish- 
ment for those offences, and your father was in like 
manner pleased, for he avowed he had been unable 
to do much with you at his yamen. 

" ' But of late years your conduct, so far as we are 
aware, has been exemplary, and in your studies you 
have outstripped them all. Now, then, recite for 
me sixty and six paragraphs, commencing at the 
last, of the 'Spring and Autumn Annuals.'" 

"How pleased I was that he had selected the great 
work which I could write off from beginning to end 
with a stick in the red sand. I recited off for him the 
sixty and six, and was still going on when he raised 
his hand and stopped me. Then it was that he told 
me he had wanted for some time to give me a place 
in the hein-kwan office, but he knew it was my 
father's desire that I start with the fu. 



10 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"Then, after I had thanked him with all my 
heart, both because he had forgiven my early 
wrongs — though stone-casting was not so to my 
discredit — and had interceded for me with the 
chi-fu, I came away, my soul magnified to the 
heavens. I knew the hien to be a most upright and 
open-hearted man, who very often spoke the truth, 
and I did not doubt at all but that the chi-fu would 
send for me with very little delay. 

"And there has been great rejoicing at our house 
since I returned home, — so much so in my own case 
that I have been unable to sleep, and I am afraid 
my face looks like that of a man given to drugs. But 
all will be well after to-morrow, for I shall feast well 
and read some of my poetry to the assembled guests. 
I sent word to Ah Fing to come, but my mother has 
often scolded him when he has visited here, and he 
may not think he is welcome unless he brings a 
parcel of rice, which is impossible with the poor 
fellow; for at his home they believe themselves 
fortunate if they have meat twice during the winter, 
and maize-meal and vegetables the rest of the time." 

Whether the youthful enthusiast and office-holder 
ever wrote an account of that feast is not known, 
but among the six hundred or more manuscripts of 
his which were and are at present in the possession 
of a grand-nephew at Nanking, and which were 
courteously submitted for the purposes of these 
translations, is a lengthy poem descriptive of such 



HIS AMBITIONS IN LITERATURE ii 

an affair as he here tells us was about to occur. 
Indeed the subject-matter and treatment are such 
that there can be little if any doubt but that the 
poem relates to the very occasion in question. 

The poem in toto is rather too lengthy for reproduc- 
tion here, and particularly as the latter portions of it 
are so involved in thought relating to the realms and 
times of the most ancient of the Chinese writers that 
its rendition in literal English is very difficult. A 
number of the stanzas, however, commencing with 
the fifth, are here reproduced. 

AN EARLY REWARD OF GENIUS 

AND THE JOYOUS FEAST SENT BY THE GOOD GENII TO 
THE YOUTH OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS 

No questionings do mock my mind, 

That the good genii of the sky 
Will favour those who hold quite true 

To all the rightful things. 

These words I say because in recent day 
Sweet tidings, like water of the stream, 

Have flowed into my heart to stay 
And make a lake of gladness there. 

I sought the honours of the school and literati, 

I worked at morn, and midday too, 
I strove when other students shirked, 

Or wasted time at games. 

My heart did burst with learning's longing. 

Nothing else could give me joy. 
I memorised and worked the harder ' 

To realise my fond desire. 



12 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

The clouds in glory sent their rains 
To water seeds of thought in me : 

The birds sang ever sweet refrains, 
Inspiring me to con sweet words. 

Soon I became a Budding Genius, 

And then another rank I took, 
And then the highest flight I gained : 

Thus I reached my heart's desire. 

But when the hien-kwan of the district 

Sent for me to seek his yamen, 
I hastened with my fears excited — 

How happily was I mistaken ! 

O, what blessed words he uttered ! — 
He who once had caused me pain — 

Of how the whole hien rejoiced. 
And that an office now was mine. 

Then came a time of song and feasting — 

Happy feasting in my home. 
With father proud, and friends about me, 

Eating, drinking — rice and tea. 

Glad and merry mandarins feasting ! 

Joy within my heart was swelling. 
For the honour that they showed me. 

For my parent's pride in me! 

Then follow those parts already referred to, so 
abstract and involved in thought and diction that 
the translators were unable readily to render them 
into English; and which appeared as a successful 
attempt on the part of the enthusiastic young writer 
to go beyond his depth. 



CHAPTER II 

HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 

If all the writings of Li Hung Chang were to be 
fully translated, and the parts relating to the various 
subjects upon which, during a period of over half 
a century, he continued to express his views, were so 
segregated that his written comments might follow 
each other in regular and chronological order, it is to 
be doubted if a more entertaining subject than that 
of Christianity could be selected. 
' As stated in the Preface of this volume, it has 
been thought desirable to make, under various 
headings, such selections from the great mass of 
material received from the hands of the translators 
as would be in consonance with the chapter or part 
title, thus affording the reader a more concrete and 
at the same time comprehensive view of the subject 
treated by the author. Some of the great topics are, 
however, treated at such length in many entries of 
his diary, or in other papers wholly detached from 
any relationship with it, that the matter would fill 
a published volume. For instance, his writings con- 
cerning the Empress Dowager and the Court are 
estimated by competent authorities to be the equiva- 
lent of half a million English words. On the ever 
recurring subject of foreigners, missionaries, and 
Christianity, — he regards all foreigners as Chris- 



14 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

tians, if not all Christians as foreigners, — the Vice- 
roy seemed never to tire of writing, and it is likely 
that two volumes at least of a size similar to this 
could be filled with the transcriptions of such manu- 
scripts. 

The following selections, therefore, may be viewed 
as but a very small proportion of the large number of 
entries in his memoirs; yet they have been chosen 
with such discretion as to justify the belief that 
within the necessarily confined limits they indicate 
Li's feelings toward "foreigners and their religion" 
— feelings which were constantly shifting and chang- 
ing — during a period of over fifty years. 

The first mention of Christianity in his writings 
is found to have been made while he was looking for 
his doctorate of letters at the Imperial Han-lin Col- 
lege, Peking, in 1 849 : — 

" I think it would be a noble and glorious career, 
and highly pleasing to the sacred gods and to my 
ancestors, if in all my books and papers I were to 
tell the people the truth about the sacred gods and 
false genii of the foreign devils. I could easily obtain 
the information which would show up these impos- 
tors to the whole people, at least to the base and 
ignorant coolies of the south, who, I hear, are listen- 
ing to the sacrilegious utterances of the black-robed 
individuals. 

"These foreign devils come to the country for 
no good to it. They preach and talk in loud voices, 
and hold up their hands, and pretend that they 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 15 

come for the people's benefit; but I hear that each 
and every one of them is a paid agent of some for- 
eign power, and is here only to spy upon the Gov- 
ernment. 

"I hear that in the Far West for many years, 
altogether by far too many, there have been num- 
bers of these black-robes teaching their nefarious 
doctrines, and uttering defiance to the Jade Emperor 
and all the gods. These black-robes are of one sect 
of the foreign devils, and I hear there are many sects, 
all hating each other and all preaching for the same 
god whom they call the Tien-fu [Heavenly Father]. 
If they have such a father he cannot be proud of his 
sons, for they are unlearned men and barbarians. 

" It is a part of their teaching that the Tien-fu let 
his son come on earth and die for wicked people. 
Such teaching! If they would say that he came and 
died for the good people it would sound sensible, 
even if the rest of their doctrines are too absurd for 
a man with brains to give a serious thought to. If the 
gods are good and want men to be good will they 
allow members of their families to be killed like 
criminals for the sake of criminals? It has been long 
intimated that most of these foreign devils are 
crazy, and I am beginning to believe it. But it is 
strange that they should be able to draw any of our 
people away from the old religion and old philosophy. 
I cannot understand how it is, but I am sure this 
crazy fad will die out." 



i6 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Again, in 1849, he wrote: "Dr. Quong tells me 
that he has heard several of these foreign devils 
preach their insane doctrine in Honan. These were 
of that sect that hails from the country of the French, 
and are called the Tien-chu kiao [Roman Catholics]. 
These persistent demons have been over a century 
in the country, and they even grow queues, not only 
to fool the people but to try to fool the gods! They 
want to make believe they are Chinese, yet at the 
same time they would make fun of the religion of the 
people. 

"These fanatics have some very queer ideas of 
their own. They say that more greatly to honour 
their god they abstain from having wives, not even 
one wife; and yet they urge the people to marry 
young, and to let all their children, girls as well, 
grow up. What kind of teaching is this? These fel- 
lows will die, and leave no one to mourn for them 
nor attend their graves. But I am wondering if none 
of this sect marry where their new preachers will 
come from. Perhaps they expect their fool converts 
to select preachers from their number that will not 
marry. And maybe they are right and will thus 
succeed, for when people are so twisted in their 
heads as to believe what these black-robes say, they 
may be ready to do as they do. 

"Dr. Quong has once before written the Censors 
to memorialise the Throne for the extinction of the 
black-robes in the West, but the Chief Censor wrote 
in return that the Throne would not dignify the 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 17 

foreign sect by taking notice of it. Besides, it has 
been learned that the land of the French is a very- 
strong kingdom far to the other end of Asia, and 
that these black-robes are all officers of the Govern- 
ment. Still, it is reported that they live off the 
people, and yet do not have yamens or fine houses. 
And their temples are great buildings, square and 
ill-looking, but well built." 

The author does not appear to have written much 
concerning the Christians during the next few years, 
but his vigour and apparent hatred, as shown by a 
lengthy entry in his diary, made in 1854, rather 
make up for the seeming delinquency. He is again 
in central China, holding office; and the Taiping 
rebels, calling themselves Christians, — without at 
all knowing the meaning of the term nor practising 
in even the remotest degree its teachings, — are 
marching through the central coast provinces with 
fire and sword. 

''Why do not all our people rise together and drive 
these enemies from the country? I did not think the 
ideas of the cursed foreigners would ever take hold 
of a large number, but it appears that in the south 
there are thousands and thousands of mongrels who 
are willing to follow the smell of this Hung Siu-tsuen 
dog, who has imbibed the bold doctrines of the other 
nations. Not only are they devastating the whole 
country, but they are forcing their beliefs upon the 
people everywhere. And, if reports are true, thou- 



i8 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

sands more of the fanatics are preparing to come 
from Canton and the regions to the north. 

"I have learned from good reports that in Nan- 
king the Long-Haired Rebels have cut the heads off 
of many hundreds, and the ears of ten thousand 
who did not join at once in their vile beliefs. And 
this is the manner of acting of the members of the 
Association for the Worship of God (Shangti hwui), 
who are presuming to call this country the Kingdom 
of Heaven (Tien Kwoh). 

"I do not think the authorities are half severe 
enough with these fanatics, and it is very wrong 
to take any of them into the Imperialistic forces 
when they surrender and declare repentance. They 
do not repent, the hounds ! They are rats of disease 
caught from the leprous missionaries of Canton, and 
they would run into all the holes of the centre and 
north and spread their vile malady. The lingering 
death should be applied to all those who have coun- 
tenanced this foreign doctrine, or in any way aided 
the marauders, though they may not have marched 
with them. If my own arms were not so lame during 
this season from rheumatism and other ailments of 
the blood, which I hope will soon pass, nothing could 
please me better than to take a place as executioner 
of the vermin. As it is, I am doing my share ; for to 
help collect moneys for the support of our patriotic 
soldiers is in itself a great task, especially as the 
fertile fields have been so largely destroyed by these 
marauders." 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 19 

About this time Li wrote: — 

It is truly the greatest sacred duty 
Of all patriotic sons of the Middle Kingdom, 
And all who bow to the mighty Throne, — 
The glorious seat of ten thousand years, — 
To strike to the black heart 
The Long-Haired bandits; 
And to let out their vitals upon the earth, 
That the swine of our gutters 
' And the fowls of the barnyards 
And the mongrel curs of the alleys 
May lick up their blood and gnaw their bones. 

These fierce Long-Hairs are wild in their heads. 

They have crazy notions of Heaven. 

They have a new god 

And his Elder Brother 

Whom they follow to deeds of darkness. 

They have forsaken all our sacred gods, 

And spat upon the images, 

And upon the graves of our ancestors. 

They are dogs of low order. 

Devils of blackest darkness, 

Lepers of the foulest ills, 

Serpents with marks of the pox, 

Fowl that limp with gangrene! 

They are not men at all in human shape, 

Nor in their minds — for such are gone ; 

Nor in their new speech, 

For they ape the tones of the foreign masters 

And talk loud, like barking dogs at night. 

Let them be given no quarter! 

It is a great work and blessing 

To pluck out their lying tongues, 

To burn deep the sockets of their eyes, 

To rip open their vile bellies, 

To rub salt into many cuts, 



20 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

To" trim close their ears, 
To draw forth the nails, 



To bury deep whilst yet alive. 

To use the pole upon their skulls. 

Oh ! all patriotic sons of the Middle Kingdom, 

Drive these rank fiends 

Into the salty sea. 

Or make their rotting bones 

Manure the land ! 

In 1865, two years after the capture of Nanking 
and the complete collapse of the Taiping Rebellion, 
Li Hung Chang at Suchau (Soochow) writes as 
follows: — 

"It is always well for a man to give continued 
and serious consideration to a question before arriv- 
ing at a final decision, and I find this particularly 
true with relation to the underlying character of the 
Taiping Rebellion. During the most of those long 
and bitter years I was wholly of the opinion that 
the foreigners along the coast, especially at Shanghai, 
Hong-Kong, and Canton, were in a very large 
measure responsible for the outbreak of the Long- 
Haired Rebels, but I am now forced to the conclu- 
sion that my thoughts and opinions were very wrong. 

"This I have learned in a number of ways, mostly 
since the fall of Nanking. Yet I remember that upon 
at least one occasion General Gordon, who was 
my lieutenant-commander of the 'Ever Victorious 
Army,' tried to explain to me the doctrines of the 
Christian Church ; but I would not listen in patience, 
so much had I learned to hate the name. Gordon at 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 21 

that time would have me believe that none of the 
Christian nations were in sympathy with the Long- 
Hairs; and he offered as partial proof of the truth- 
fulness of his words the fact that his own nation, 
which he said was the leading Christian country of 
the world, was at that very time lending all due aid 
to China for the suppression of the rebellion. 

"I remember Gordon's words very well, as they 

were translated by , for Gordon himself could 

not speak fully in our language. But it so happened 
that this was about the time that General Ching 
accused Gordon, to me, of being in communication 
with the Wangs of the Taipings, and for a greater or 
shorter period I did not know whether to believe 
him or not. Because of this feeling of mine — which 
I afterwards learned was entirely wrong, and a very 
great injustice to the fine loyalty of General Gordon 
— I all the more doubted the sincerity of his words, 
and believed it was simply a case of one Christian 
endeavouring to be of some assistance to another. 

"But since I have been Governor, and since peace 
has given time for many things which for a number 
of years I could not enjoy, I have taken opportunity 
to inquire diligently into the training and so-called 
inspiration of Hung Siu-tsuen, with the result that 
I have ascertained that the leader of the Taipings 
was as far from being a Christian as I from a Tartar, 
and that neither he nor his followers had any con- 
ception of how the Western Church members live 
in peace or fight in war. I have even seen the 



22 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

brother of the foreign devil missionary, who gave 
Siu-tsuen his first lessons, and he has told me that 
his reverend brother gave no encouragement to 
Siu-tsuen or any of his followers to make a study of 
the Christian books. 

"Yet, it was the loud words of these Long-Hairs 
that gave us the strongest impression, and that at 
the same time brought them hundreds of thousands 
of followers in the four provinces. In all their 
marches, pillages, and battles they called upon the 
name of the foreign devils' god to give them victory 
and to send them many new recruits. And they had 
such great success in the early years, and so many 
hundreds of thousands believed in the divine appoint- 
ment of the leader, that I myself began to believe 
that they were real Christians as they claimed, and 
that their so-called Heavenly Father and his Elder 
Brother [God and Jesus Christ] were giving them aid 
and encouragement. It was difficult for me to believe 
that our own gods and good genii had forsaken the 
religion of the Middle Kingdom, and departed from 
their guardianship of the Throne; but with the 
continued success of the rebels I began myself to 
lose some little part of my former faith, and even 
to question whether our illustrious ancestors were 
still in love with the people who worshipped them. 
Thus it was that from day to day, especially in those 
terrible years when the Long-Hairs were sweeping 
all before them and assembling armies that were 
larger by far than any of those which the Imperial 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 23 

Government might master, I hated the foreign 
religion more violently than all other scourges in the 
world ; and I prayed and hoped that not alone would 
the Taipings be destroyed, but that earthquakes, 
eruptions of mountains, and terrible fevers would 
make the Christian nations without a man, a woman, 
or a child. 

" But I have learned many things by studying this 
matter. First of all I have come to the conclusion 
that it is not best for a man to pronounce hurried 
judgments upon matters to which he has not given 
diligent and continuing examination. It is well for a 
man to forget many things, and when he seeks a clear 
and unbiassed opinion upon some certain matter, 
to begin to look at it as if he knew nothing at all 
before. Then when facts and theories are presented 
to his mind — it is better to have facts, for theories 
change with the sun and the moon — he may stand 
them up like culprits before a magistrate, pick out 
the good and the substantial, and decapitate the 
remaining ones. 

"Since my present office began I have had more 
intercourse with foreigners than in all my life before, 
and I cannot assert truthfully that they have played 
greater tricks on me than my own countrymen; but 
this may be more because of their pride than their 
honesty, for, as I understand it, the citizens of most 
of these European nations take a pretended delight 
in evincing a superiority over the Asiatics, and are 
therefore opposed to doing many things when they 



24 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

are away from their home lands which they would 
not hesitate at all to do in the places of their birth. 

"In this I do not see any true moral philosophy, 
but rather a weakness in their attempt to impress 
grandly what they believe to be weaker nations. 
I am told that great numbers of the foreigners along 
our coasts, especially in Shanghai, Hong-Kong, and 
Macao, left their homes because they owed large 
sums of money, and either could not pay or did not 
care to. Yet these same foreigners, when they are 
residents of Asian ports, will be angry with their 
coolies and servants if they are not on hand promptly 
to receive wages due them. I cannot believe they 
are very angry ; at least if they are it is entirely sense- 
less, for, if the man who has performed the labour 
is in no hurry for his pay, does it cost the foreigner 
anything to hold it a day or two for him? If held two 
months or two years, is not the interest all the greater ? 

"The British officials from Shanghai have im- 
pressed me most favourably since I have held high 
office, and I have often wished that I might be able 
to speak their language. Some of them converse 
very well in Mandarin, and one or two of the secre- 
taries write it very well; but these latter are those 
who have been many years along the coast. 

"All these tell me that the Christian people in 
foreign lands were rejoiced that the Taipings failed 
in their rebellion, but I have had translations made 
from some of the articles in the English press, and it 
would seem as if the editors were themselves going 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 25 

to die because of the treatment accorded some of the 
Long-Hairs. And I find that in nearly all foreign 
quarters I am severely blamed for what happened 
to the Wangs at Suchau, and am called a 'Yellow 
Barbarian'! I will no longer attempt to answer 
these outside attacks: all I will say is that I did not 
give an order for the execution of the Wangs, but 
had I done so I would not have regretted it very 
sorely, for their going gave the greatest pleasure to 
the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and the 
country was well served. If General Gordon, during 
any of his visits to the Taiping leaders, made cer- 
tain promises to them, he was exceeding any au- 
thority ever given him." 

Receiving in June, 1870, word from Peking that 
he should prepare to go north as Commander of the 
Forces and Viceroy of Chihli Province, Li wrote : — 

"I am not too highly pleased with this new 
appointment, for I am quite at home and satisfied 
where I am; but in the Province of Chihli there are 
just now the worst elements in the empire so far as 
the treatment of foreigners is concerned, and I am 
happy to know that the Throne believes my hand 
strong enough to cope with these ruffians. 

" It cannot be said, even by my worst foes, that 
I have been a bosom friend to the foreigner, either 
the man that comes to force his trade upon us, or 
the fellow who would cram his religion down our 
throats. Of course it is offensive to our educated 



26 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

people to know that these churchmen are sent from 
all parts of the world to explain to us the nicest way 
to live and the happiest way to die, but the entering 
wedge was inserted many years ago, and it is now 
too late to cry out against what we once permitted. 
We opened our gates and the goats came in, and now 
the goatherds insist that the pasture wherein their 
hungry flocks have so long grazed shall not be taken 
from them. 

"Yet, in spite of all our dislikes, if we truly have 
the best interests of China at heart, we will no longer 
oppose the coming of the foreigner, whether he be 
trader, missionary, or tourist ; for he is bound to come 
anyway, even if he must ride behind a bayonet, or 
sit upon the big gun of a warship. And it is just as 
well, much better in fact, that all our people come 
to a realisation of this. 

"Just now, in the Province of Chihli, there is a 
great agitation among certain classes against the 
French priests and nuns; and, in fact, against every 
agent of a foreign institution. But Their Majesties 
desire an end put to all such things, and I feel highly 
complimented to think that I am regarded as the 
proper person to put Their Majesties' desires into 
effect. I shall spare none of these ruffians and hard- 
heads when I am at my post ; and if the foreign ele- 
ment in the population, whether priests or harlots, 
missionaries or opium fiends, does not get protection 
it will be because the sword and the bamboo are 
worn to soft places. 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 27 

"When last I saw Tseng-kofan we spent several 
hours in full discussion of this great problem — 
a problem which, unless settled in the right way, 
will be as a dagger ever likely at a moment's notice 
to be thrust into the body of the nation. Tseng- 
kofan, like myself, has changed his views exceedingly 
in the past five or six years, and is no longer a hater 
of the Christians. He told me that it was his inten- 
tion some pf these days to memorialise the Throne 
to issue an edict of complete toleration for all for- 
eigners of whatever profession or occupation, and I 
told him that I would gladly join in such a memorial 
if he would so desire." 

^^ June 13. — Though my action may not be fully 
understood I am writing an article upon the rights 
of foreigners to reside in China and prosecute their 
own affairs without insult or hindrance. I hope to 
have it ready to present to General Tseng-kofan, 
who is soon to have an audience with Her Majesty, 
the illustrious old Buddha, when he may have oppor- 
tunity to leave it with her for her private counsel. 
If the Court wiW give sanction I will have many 
thousand cojpes printed at my own expense, and 
circulated in every province. I think there is 
scarcely anything I could do at the present time that 
would result in greater good to both foreigners and 
Chinese.". 

In an entry made some weeks later, Li mentions 



28 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

that his memorial on behalf of foreigners was not 
completed, "because I hope soon to speak directly 
with Her Majesty, when I shall seek permission to 
write my views upon diis all important matter." 

" Viceroy's Yamen, Tientsin, June 23. — The hell 
leaders of this city, foilowing out their own cursed 
notions, have again brought China into disrepute 
with the whole world, and humiliated the Throne; 
but these ignorant fiends who incite or take part in 
outrages must not think that they will escape the 
penalty, for I shall see to it that every miscreant 
who had aught to do with the massacre of two nights 
ago will get his just dues." 

"June 24. — The acting French Consul called 
upon me early to-day presenting a note from the 
French Minister at Peking, asking what steps I was 
taking to apprehend and punish the participants 
in the outrages upon the Consul, the Catholic priests, 
nuns, and converts. 

"This is the way the foreign official acts in China! 
An English trader's shop window is no more than 
broken by some rowdies than the Consul or the Min- 
ister is at the yamen demanding to know what we 
are going to do about it. A French dandy gets into 
a street brawl with a band of ignorant coolies, and 
before the officials have even heard that such an 
affair took place the Consul or Minister is shaking 
his fist at the Viceroy. A fat, red-faced German, half 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 29 

full of stout beer and smelling of cheese, falls into a 
gutter and breaks one of his legs. Passers-by try to 
help him to his feet, and he thinks they are going to 
rob him. He pulls a revolver and shoots a native, 
and then friends of the latter throw stones and cut 
the fat German's red face. Immediately his Consul 
or his Minister is knocking loudly at the door of the 
yamen and demanding 'satisfaction' for the 'insult 
offered the German flag'! 

'•^Thus it is in China. If that same Englishman or 
Frenchman or German had the same sort of trouble 
in his own country he would be well satisfied if 
a policeman and a Justice of the Peace took any 
notice of his case; but in China he expects and 
demands that the whole machinery of his Govern- 
ment be invoked to bring the ' Yellow Barbarian ' to 
terms ! 

"Of course I do not mean to bring up these cases 
in comparison with the present vile outrage; but it 
is an injury to my pride to think that the French 
Minister and the French Consul should demand to 
know what I am 'going' to do when any one of 
any intelligence in Tientsin and Peking, themselves 
included, knows how sternly I view all infractions of 
the law, and in particular outrages against foreigners. 

"I said to the French official: 'You will please 
pardon me, Mr. Consul, but if you will inquire at 
the prison you will find what I have already done in 
the matter. And if you will inquire of almost any 
coolie in the city you will be told that more than 



30 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

three thousand soldiers are scouring the whole of 
the province and every corner and hole of Tientsin 
to bring suspected ones before the authorities.' 

"The Consul in one way was greatly pleased with 
my answer, although I only imparted information 
such as was already in his possession ; but he desired 
to impress me with the importance of his position as 
representative of the great French nation, forgetting 
that I myself am the virtual ruler of as many people 
as there are in twenty cities like Paris, where Mr. 
Consul would not be known upon the streets." 

(No date.) — "Having fixed the time for the 
execution of the ringleaders in the massacre I have 
been requested by both the French and Russian 
Ministers to postpone the decapitations. They are 
desirous of being present to witness the show, or, 
more truly, to see that the culprits really die after 
their heads are chopped off. 

"This is another disgusting trait of the foreigners, 
and these messages of to-day have caused me much 
annoyance. Perhaps they think that in all my words 
and actions against such outrages I am only looking 
for effect, whereas, if they would know the truth, I 
am more anxious to see such vagabonds put out of 
the way than are any of the foreign Government 
representatives in Peking or Tientsin. It is not only 
right on mere grounds of revenge or satisfaction for 
the lives of the men, women, and children taken, 
but it is necessary for the good of China that swift 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 31 

and sure punishment be meted out to all offenders. 
If my son or daughter were killed in Europe or 
America I believe the authorities would see to it that 
the murderer or murderers paid the penalty. And 
it will be so here in Chihli so long as I am Vice- 
roy. 

'sj Of course most of our people think that a Chinese 
young woman who would wish to go into a foreign 
nation among strangers deserves to be killed by a 
mob, or have some fatal accident befall her; but the 
views of the English and Americans and other Chris- 
tian nations are very different. While our people 
think the putting out of the way of the nuns is a 
benefit to the latter — for they have no husbands, 
and by their looks do not eat much — as well as to 
the world at large, in France, as the Consul says, 
these women are looked upon as great and holy 
saints in the next world. And, is n't this strange? — 
they were nothing but plain, hard-working women, 
looking after a lot of children (of whom it is a pity 
they did not die in infancy), when the work of a crazy 
band of fanatics makes holy saints and immortal 
ancestors of them. Yet, for this great transformation, 
as I understand the present temper of that nation, 
the French are ready to send a fleet and an army to 
kill as many thousand Chinese as get in their way. 
And France is a Christian nation. I do not under- 
stand in full the application of the doctrines they 
profess to believe, nor the principles they announce 
themselves willing to uphold." 



32 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"July 21. — Again the date for the execution of 
the criminals connected with the massacre of the 
French consular officer and the Christians has been 
postponed, this time also upon request of the 
Russian Minister. Yet the Foreign Office is continu- 
ally hearing that in Paris and St. Petersburg the 
Governments are impatient with the delay in bring- 
ing these outragers to punishment. What does all 
this mean? Are Russia and France looking for some 
excuse to make war upon China? 

"It has been brought to my attention by one of 
the British consular officers of this city that it is 
very probable that France would declare war upon 
us if it were not for the fact that she is just now very 
much occupied with Germany. I do not know 
whether to believe this or not, but I understand that 
the same report has reached the Tsung Li Yamen at 
Peking from another source. If this is so it is 
very wrong on the part of the French, for the rioters 
would have paid the penalty of their crime days 
ago had it not been for the request of the French 
Minister. This appears strange, and not at all as it 
should be. 

"The Minister has himself assured me that he 
is thoroughly satisfied with my attitude in the 
entire matter, but in the same breath he did com- 
plain unofficially of what he terms the ' apathy of 
the Imperial Government.' I explained to him that 
neither the Throne, the Court, nor the Government 
Departments at the capital had anything to do with 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 33 

the punishment of the outragers; that I had been 
given a wholly free hand in the entire matter, and 
that I would see that each guilty one was brought to 
book in the most certain and summary manner if 
I was not interfered with by the Legations. I asked 
the Minister himself to set a date for the executions, 
but he declined to do this." 

''July 25. — Lying and contemptuous officials, 
I believe, are often at the bottom of these riots 
against foreigners. In the past I have been willing 
to believe the mandarins as a general thing exerted 
themselves vigorously to prevent anti-foreign out- 
breaks, but upon investigating this terrible massa- 
cre of a foreign official and so many church workers, 
and considering facts of some other recent outrages, 
I am, convinced that shallow-minded and venial- 
hearted district and prefectural officers are largely 
to blame. 

"I know that by so doing I will make hundreds 
and perhaps thousands of enemies throughout the 
country; but at my next audience with Her Majesty 
I am going to urge with all my strength, and as far 
as I dare proceed, that an edict be issued to the effect 
that fu and hein officials will be held personally 
responsible, in life and property, for the lives and 
property of Christians. If this is done there will be 
fewer attacks upon missions, and the missionaries 
will be allowed to pursue their vocations without 
hindrance." 



34 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

^^ July 27. — General Tseng-kofan has issued a 
fine statement relieving the priests and nuns of any 
culpability in giving cause for the late massacre. 
He condemns the work of the mad rioters in the 
most scathing terms, and declares that the Throne 
is ever against such action on the part of its subjects, 
and is desirous of having the most condign punish- 
ment inflicted. 

"I am happy that this action has been taken by 
Tseng-kofan, and it pleases me beyond measure to 
know that Their Majesties are willing to uphold 
me in the severe measures which I am taking to 
suppress anti- Christian lawlessness, and the still 
more drastic action I am ready to take if such 
appears necessary. 

''It is my intention to end this rioting busi- 
ness in the Province of Chihli, if personally I must 
visit the magistrates and army ofBcials at Peking, 
Paoting-fu, and Tientsin each week of my stay in 
office. The whole world will get the impression that 
our nation is indeed one of 'yellow barbarians' if 
these inexcusable and terrible affairs continue. I 
shall certainly memorialise the Throne for an edict, 
and at the same time I will make of my province a 
safe place in which foreign merchants and mission- 
aries and their families may reside." 

'^August 23. — My heart is pierced with sorrow 
to-day to learn of the dastardly assassination of 
General Ma Yu-k'un, the great Viceroy of Nanking 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 35 

— a man I was proud to call friend. It is too 
bad, altogether deplorable; and, I pray the fiendish 
assassins will not only be made to pay for their deed 
by a lingering death, but that the spirits of the 
ancestors will rend their spirits into bits as small as 
flashes from diamonds. 

" Perhaps some of my enemies will regard Viceroy 
Ma's taking-off as a lesson to me; for he was ever 
friendly toward the foreigners and their religion, 
and it was because of this feeling, no doubt, that he 
met death in the very height of his powers and use- 
fulness. Glorious man ! — he paid with his life for 
the liberality of his mind and the openness of his 
heart. I wonder if the foreigners will really appreci- 
ate the sacrifice of this life in their behalf? Time 
will tell us. 

"But if there are any who think that my own 
actions, much less my thoughts and feelings, will 
be influenced by the assassination of the Nanking 
Viceroy they are not acquainted with Li Hung 
Chang. On the contrary, the wild ruffians of Chihli 
will be dealt with more rigorously than ever. I will 
drive such fisticuffs and murderers out of my vice- 
royalty — if the Court does not interfere. 

''Glorious Viceroy Ma Yu-k'un! He died for 
China, yet as a Chinese Martyr to the God of the 
Westerners!" 

"August 25. — During the entire night I dreamed 
only of the dead Nanking Viceroy, and I saw his 



36 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

cold body in the hands of the murderers. I do not 
know when I have felt so ill as to-day. I shall deny 
myself even to the agent of the Russian Minister, 
who is to call." 

"September 4. — The Grand Council has asked 
me if the number of rioters awaiting execution for 
the massacre cannot be reduced somewhat. This 
interference is as bad or even worse than that exer- 
cised by the Legations. I have answered that I see 
no way of exculpating any of the prisoners, but rather 
that I am straining every effort to increase their 
number. It would be well for the Grand Council 
and the other high officials to be busying themselves 
regarding the payment of the indemnity that is 
demanded, and leave to me the details of dealing 
with these hardened rascals." 

'^September 5. — I have pardoned one of the nine- 
teen condemned to death. He is a low creature, and 
would be happier and better in the ground than on 
top of it. But I permitted him to tell his story again 
this morning, having him brought into my presence 
accompanied by one of the French priests, who, 
luckily for himself, was at Tung-Chow at the time 
of the Tientsin outbreak. The low creature explained 
that he had been employed by the Sisters of Mercy 
about the Orphanage, and that instead of being a 
part of the original mob he himself was threatened 
with death if he did not take a hand in the mad and 
fiendish work. 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 37 

'"Did you murder or burn?' I asked him. 

'"No, Your Excellency, I did not; I made my 
escape as soon as I could, and then went to my home 
in the old city as quickly as possible.' 

"'Are you a convert to Christianity?' I ques- 
tioned. 

'"Oh, no. Your Excellency, never, never!' 

"When he made this answer the priest looked at 
the fellow reproachfully, and told him that he knew 
he was lying, and that instead of denying his faith 
he should be willing to die for it. Then the low crea- 
ture, ashamed of himself, told me that he really was 
a convert. 

" 'Well, it is good for you that you have acknowl- 
edged it,' I told him, 'for I would not want to be 
accused of executing a Christian — even a worthless 
cur like yourself. I will, therefore, excuse you from 
decapitation; but you are sentenced to eternal 
banishment from this Middle Kingdom and its outer 
provinces. I hope you will seek a home in some 
Christian country, and that the Christians, as I 
doubt not they will, will find without delay a reason 
for killing you.* 

"The low fellow then begged that the original 
sentence be carried out, and the priest said he did 
not much care. But I sent the liar and coward away, 
with an order that he be exiled from the whole coast. 
Such mendacious creatures as he would have a 
monster lie in his throat at the time of the falling 
of the sword, and the edge of the instrument would 



38 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

be dulled to a greater damage than his carcass would 
be worth." 

On September i6 the Viceroy of Chihli wrote his 
last comment upon the massacre which for many 
months threatened to bring on a war between 
France and China, but regarding the satisfactory 
settlement of which the French Government made 
an announcement before the end of the year — a 
"Christmas present of peace," as the Republic's 
Minister expressed it. 

^iceroy Li wrote: "Christian ministers, priests, 
and Sisters of Mercy preach peace and good will, 
and by their lives and works among the people 
indicate that they are honest in their intentions, 
and would show good example to their converts. 
But they have one great fault: it is unknown that 
they ever appeal directly to the local authorities 
when affairs do not go in a manner to please them. 
In the smaller villages they do not think of going to 
the head man of the place with their troubles, nor 
to the hein-kwan, nor the fu, nor the Governor, nor 
the Viceroy. But always they would air their griev- 
ances to the Consul, and the Consul to the Minister. 
This latter official — and I say it with all personal 
and official respect, for the Ministers are usually 
men of high standards — cables the trouble to his 
own Government oftentimes before bringing the mat- 
ter to the attention of ours. Thus it is that the 
journals in foreign parts publish the news of the 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 39 

latest "Chinese outrage upon Christians," and the 
people are ready to believe that our entire nation is 
in arms against the foreigner. Two or three ruffians, 
or half a hundred crazed fanatics who consider 
themselves patriots — damn them ! — give a bad 
name to the whole empire, from the Throne to the 
coolies. 

"I am weary advising the missionaries as to the 
best course to pursue in the event of trouble of what- 
ever nature that concerns their lives and the prose- 
cution of their labours; yet it is simply and solely 
to make the acquaintance of the local officials, and to 
have faith that the latter will accord full protection 
against violence. If they have good reason to doubt 
the sincerity or reliability of the local mandarins, or 
the fu or hein magistrates, they should put them- 
selves , directly under the care of the Governor or 
Viceroy. These latter may not love or admire the 
missionary and his work to any greater extent than 
does the fu or the hein, but they have more at stake 
in the losing of their positions, and are generally 
men of greater intelligence, broadmindedness, and 
wealth. 

"But to-day I personally witnessed the paying of 
a debt in blood for the Orphanage massacre and the 
killing of the French consular officer, and I am 
pleased that this miserable chapter has been 
brought to a close. The foreign Governments were 
all represented at the scene, and I trust they are 
satisfied. Sixteen heads were lopped off. The other 



40 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

thirty- three culprits were started upon their journeys 
into exile. 

"I asked the French Minister if he was satisfied. 

'"Yes, perfectly,' he answered. 'And how about 
Your Excellency? * 

"I told him that in a sense I was quite pleased, 
but that there were still many ' rough necks ' in the 
province which needed a shaving by the 'heavy 
razor.' I was thinking also of General Ma when I 
spoke." 

On February 17, 1886, this entry is found: — 

" I am more and more convinced that the Christian 
religion is not so much hated in itself, but that the 
animosity which is found to a greater or lesser extent 
throughout China against the 'foreign devils' is 
because they are 'foreign.* 

X During several years I have given quite careful 
study and thought to the religion of the West, and 
I cannot see that it is in conflict at all with our 
own philosophy. On the contrary, the teachings of 
Confucius and the doctrines of Jesus appear to be on 
one exalted plane, conceived and promulgated for the 
betterment of all mankind, 'heathen ' and Christian. 
I know this: that if my lot in life were cast in Eng- 
land, France, or America I should want to call my- 
self a Christian, for that is the religion of those 
countries; and a man who would order his life by its 
tenets would keep out of trouble and be respected. 
He would not think of Confucius, because he would 
have no need for him or his teachings. And it is the 



HIS VIEWS OF CHRISTIANITY 41 

same way, reversed, in China: I have no need for 
Christ if I will but follow our own great sage and 
philosopher. But simply because I feel no personal 
call for the Christian religion I will not therefore 
oppose it, since I believe that there are thousands, 
perhaps millions, in China who would be somewhat 
benefited by a knowledge of Jesus, especially as they 
trouble themselves not at all to follow in the ways 
directed by Confucius. 

"Therefore I would sum up the feelings of the 
more intelligent officials and literati to-day — for 
my own sentiments appear to be largely shared by 
this class in all the Eastern provinces from Canton 
to the Northern Capital — it is the foreigner who 
is disliked, not because of his religion, but because 
he is otherwise feared. He is feared not at all in this 
year because he may be the agent of Jesus Christ or 
a follower of that great man, but as a possible enemy 
to the political and industrial independence of the 
country. 

"That this conclusion is correct I know from this 
one fact, regardless of any others: the Japanese are 
the most despised of all the foreigners, yet we Chinese 
know that they are not Christians, nor have they 
any of the good traits of the Christian nations, 
government, or people. Quite the contrary. The 
Japanese are very much like ourselves in matters of 
religion, philosophy, and ethics, yet we hate them 
and they despise us. Though they received all they 
have in arts, literature, and science from China, 



42 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

they pretend to be much better than we; and, instead 
of thanking China for all she has done for them, they 
would pluck her feathers from neck to tail, and, if 
opportunity offered, run off with the whole bird. 

"v Knowing these things and thinking of them as 
I do, and fully appreciating what the Christian 
nations did for us in a late emergency, I cannot say 
that I am not friendly to the people of the West, 
whether they come as merchants or missionaries, or 
do not come at all. And it is time that our people in 
the south and centre and north realise that all for- 
eigners are not the same, and that some Christians 
are much to be preferred to some Taoists and follow- 
ers of Buddha." 



CHAPTER III 

RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 

Through attracting the attention of the famous 
scholar and soldier Tseng-kofan, at that time 
commander-in-chief of the regular and irregular 
forces employed against the Taipings in Central 
China, Li Hung Chang, then a comparatively 
obscure but brilliant civil officer of his native Prov- 
ince of Anhuei, was first engaged in the profession of 
arms; an occupation which was eventually to bring 
him into contact with General Charles Gordon and 
establish a relationship whose varying degrees of 
friendship and trust, at least on Li's side, are, during 
a number of years, told in notations of sufficient 
comprehensiveness to make a volume in themselves. 

Quite with the enthusiasm of early youth, al- 
though he was thirty-five years of age, he writes of 
Viceroy Tseng-kofan in 1855: — 

"It is the highest compliment of my life, and 
praise of my humble work in the different minor 
offices I have filled, to hear that the great Tseng- 
kofan has decided to give me a place under him in 
the extermination of the Chang-mao-tseh (Long- 
Haired Rebels). I am as yet uninformed as to the 
exact nature of my duties, but whatever they are 
I will do my best to fulfil them properly. Oh, I will 
fight — fight — fight, for I despise these rough 



44 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

rebels who would go through the country like bands 
of robbers. They would destroy the whole Govern- 
ment if they could, and would march to Peking and 
level the Sacred Throne itself. But we must com- 
pletely annihilate them, and drive them into the sea, 
or feed their bodies to the swine upon the land. 

"My father, who has been thrice to see Tseng- 
kofan, says that but few men of China of late centu- 
ries have been greater scholars than the Viceroy. 
What a reputation ! Is it not wonderful to be learned 
and profound in the classics, and at the same time 
a wise administrator and soldier of great strategy? 
Yet such is Tseng-kofan — learned, wise, rigorous, 
and brave ! And such a man as this, whose deeds are 
heralded and praised from the far south to the far 
north, from Tibet to the eastern sea, desires me to 
assist him in his great work. 

"Tseng-kofan's family is like our own in many 
ways, though it is necessary that I show a little 
modesty, and do not draw the comparison too closely. 
But his is one of the old Chinese families of Anhuei 
and Kiangsu, for there are two great branches. It 
was said by friends of mine that he came originally 
of the Manchu blood, and that it was on this account 
that he had been given high offices and vast prefer- 
ments, but I have learned that this information is 
wholly wrong, and that for eleven centuries the home 
of the family has been in the provinces. 

" 1855. — Three of my old friends of student days 
were with me to dine last night. They all came to 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 45 

the office [Li refers very likely to the office wherein 
he was engaged as sub-treasurer pf Hofei] during the 
day with the intention, as I soon saw, of chaffing me 
and disturbing my work. This was very wrong of 
them, for if they are not taken up with serious mat- 
ters themselves, they should not make it a part of 
their business to interfere with the weighty affairs 
of others. 

"P'ing remarked upon my good clothes and the 
heavy jade ring. I did not like what he said to the 
effect that my father must be more liberal these days 
than when I was studying for my degrees. I told 
P'ing I did not like his manner of speech, for it more 
than intimated that I was receiving no salary or, 
perhaps, that I was securing funds that did not 
rightly belong to me. 

" Itis true that both my father and my uncle are 
more liberal in their offers than they were six or eight 
years ago, and that I could obtain, if I needed, goodly 
sums from them. But it is not because they have 
changed in money matters; they know now that a 
borrowed sum could be quickly repaid with goodly 
interest, while before there would have been some 
uncertainty about it. 

VI have not had as yet vast experiences in the 
world, but it is an established thought with me that 
if you are possessed of a definite amount of anything, 
people are willing to aid you to add to it, while if 
you are wholly without, it is a remarkable man who 
will offer you anything. It appears to be the same in 



46 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

regard to all things connected with life. If a student 
fails in the examinations none of the bachelors or 
doctors will sit up nights with him in his recitations, 
nor explain the difficult passages. But let him be 
high in his student work, and come out at the head of 
his lists in his examinations, and all the learned men 
will offer their assistance to make him better. If a 
man have no money at all, and is a ragged beggar 
upon the highway, he is most likely to remain so, 
for he has no friends, except mendicants like himself, 
and they are of no use to him when he would buy a 
bowl of soup on a cold night or a dish of locusts or 
bees on a holiday. This rule extends even to the 
affairs of the domestic realm, for if a man has gone 
over a limit of years without a wife, all the women 
of his district believe either that he cannot get one, 
or that he would be unable to support one if he had 
her. But when he is once married, and has assumed 
a position of some standing in the community, there 
are many women who think their daughters might 
be valuable additions to his household." 

"P'ing, San, and Klun are good friends of mine, 
but I do not care to have them obtrude their noses 
and tongues into my affairs when I am at the office. 
The treasurer was not there when they called. Had 
he been, he would have put a sudden stop to their 
gibes, and ordered them to go about their own con- 
cerns. But, nevertheless, he heard of their visit, and 
questioned me about it when he returned from the 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 47 

office of the Chi-fu. He asked if I was making the 
yamen a place for reunions with my literati friends. 
Tsung is himself an ignorant man in all things liter- 
ary, although he is a master of accounts and gives 
the collectors no rest. During the term of office few 
taxes have remained unpaid except in those districts 
which have been most greatly despoiled by the 
Taipings, and in such districts the Viceroy has always 
been considerate enough to allow of their being 
remitted." 

"My friends, who have learned of the military 
appointment, never seem to tire with their jokes on 
my former ambition. Some of them who heard me 
say at one time that it was my hope to write a great 
classic, an epic that would perhaps give me high 
rank among the literary names of our history, have 
told of my aspirations all about; and even Tseng- 
kofan, in his talk with my father, asked by way of 
amusement if I would be a better officer with the 
dictionary or the sword. Of course, he was only 
uttering a playful jest, and my father knew it; for 
the Viceroy has told that his attention was first 
called to me by the statement made by the hein- 
kwan that I had stood so high in my literary work. 
Then when I wrote to him asking for an appointment, 
he complimented me highly upon the appearance of 
my manuscript — with which, in truth, I took extra 
pains. Later, when I saw him personally, he an- 
nounced that all my record and accomplishments 



48 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

were in my favour, and that he would appoint me to 
a place near him; and that, if I deserved it, a pro- 
motion to a place of greater responsibility would 
follow." 

"Everybody knows that a 'soldier is despised,' 
and that, according to the Old Rules, I am leaving 
the greatest of the professions for the worst of occu- 
pations. At least, such would be the case if I were 
going low in the ranks of a regiment or army that 
fights alone for pay. It is not so in this case. I do 
not like the occupation of arms, but I have my future 
to think of, and the provinces need good men. I 
have never left and will not leave the profession of 
letters, but is this a time for writing poetry? Who 
would read my stanzas and lines? Who cares for ro- 
mances when fire and sword are in the district? 

"It is wrong to say that I have forsaken the literati, 
and that I have changed all my ambitions. Is not 
Tseng-kofan the most learned scholar in all Central 
China, and is he not Commander-in-Chief of all the 
Forces?" 

During the following years Li Hung Chang wrote 
with even more care than was his practice, but of 
matters relating largely to his own rise in the esti- 
mation of the Viceroy, and consequent promotion 
from one post to another. His diary and other 
memoranda are filled with multitudinous detail, all 
indicating that the " Ready-for-Office " graduate was 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 49 

indeed "in office," and committed to a career of 
tireless political activity. 

It appears that in the five years following the 
surrendering of his fiscal position, the young man 
had quite forgotten that "soldiers are despised," for 
a lengthy writing made in August contains the fol- 
lowing : — 

"To be selected as head of a great number of 
troops is indeed an honour not to be despised. It 
was my own banner [regiment] which first attracted 
the most favourable attention of the Commander- 
in-Chief, and has finally caused him to select me as 
head of the forces at Kiangsu. I did not expect the 
promotion, but it did not come as a great surprise, 
for my troops have been driving the Long-Haired 
Rebels (Chang-mao-tseh) before them, like chaff 
before the wind. 

" In my earlier days I did not believe that I should 
enjoy engaging in battle or the sight of carnage; 
but a new nature has come to me, I imagine, and I 
sometimes wonder if I shall ever want to return to 
peaceful pursuits. 

"Surely not so long as these fanatics with their 
new gods and new religion are devastating the land. 
They start out and preach and call themselves the 
Shangti Hwui [Association for Worshipping God], 
and they gather hundreds and thousands of converts. 
Their name itself is a treason against the Pure 
Dynasty, but they would not have been molested if 
they had not armed themselves and marched for the 



50 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

assault of cities. They burn and pillage, and com- 
mit untold crimes against peaceful inhabitants, and 
force the country people — and those in the towns 
and cities; too — to go along with them and worship 
their Tien-fu [Heavenly Father] and the Tien-hiung 
[Elder Brother, as Jesus Christ was termed by the 
fanatical Taipings]. But everywhere we have been 
exterminating these Long-Hairs from the south, and 
it gives me much pride to know that by^my own 
orders hundreds of their heads have been lopped off. 
^' When some of the meat butchers at Chi-kiang 
told me that because of the depredations of these 
Taipings in all the country roundabout there was 
no meat anywhere on sale, not even sufhcient for a 
meal, in that city, and asked if some of the Long- 
Hair prisoners might be killed for food, I told them 
to see my captain in command over the wretches, 
and tell him it would do no harm to replenish the 
meat supply of the city. 

/'It was the same in Nanking when they were in 
control. They came in hordes upon the place, and 
made havoc of the outlying suburbs, and slaughtered 
right and left. Then, when great breaches were made 
in the walls, these Long-Haired Rebels poured into 
the city like floods of fierce devils, cutting and burn- 
ing and committing all manner of horrible assaults. 
Their hungry thousands, all the riff-raff and tough 
characters from that vast region between Canton 
and the Great River [Yangtse], and far to the west- 
ward until Hankow was reached, came in tens of 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 51 

thousands to raise up this new religion and to spread 
destruction wherever they traversed. 

"They had no organisation, although they had 
great titles and many ceremonies. But their leader, 
Hung Siu-tsuen, whom they dared to call Tien-teh 
[heavenly virtue], and his satrap, Yun-Shan, were as 
wild and unbalanced in mind in all things as they 
were in religion, and they soon found themselves 
hemmed in in Nanking — their long tongues sticking 
out in thirst for water, while their lean stomachs 
grew as thin as a pig's bladder when it is emptied. 

**They would not come out and fight in the coun- 
try districts along the Great River. No. Neither 
would they surrender their forces, and accept the 
leniency of Tseng-kofan, the great soldier and great 
scholar. No ! They would stay only with their large 
numbers in Nanking until fever swept them away 
by the boatload, and until the bodies of loyal sub- 
jects to the Tseng-chao Throne [Manchu] were 
killed, so many a day, and the bodies offered for sale 
in the meat stalls! 

"My officers and bannermen have made reports 
without number to me of the atrocities of the Long- 
Hairs from the south, and with my own eyes I have 
been a witness to occurrences that my mother would 
not believe if she had merely heard tell of them 
second-hand, or had read of them in books. Yet 
she, too, and my father have also witnessed the fire 
and sword of the Long-Hairs ; for our own home, the 
place where I was born, and where at this writing 



52 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

my wife is — for the place has been partially rebuilt 
— was burned like a stack of rice-straw by the mur- 
dering bandits, and hundreds of places in that part 
were treated in like manner, and the people butchered. 
Therefore, no orders can be too harsh with such 
marauders, wild fanatics, who have piled the living 
and the dead in great mounds, and burned their 
bodies together. I cannot forgive or overlook their 
licentiousness and thirst for blood, and I praise all 
the gods and all the ancestors that I am permitted to 
be in a position where I may follow them and follow 
them until they are all dead or driven into the sea." 

"December 12, 1859. — Report was made to me 
to-day that P'ing Kli and a brother, both of them 
friends of mine of student days, were killed in a 
house-braw on the outskirts of the city. I regretted 
very much to hear of this affair, though it seems 
that P'ing, who is half ready to join in the beliefs 
of the Taipings, poked humour or satire at some of 
the soldiers, and they hung his body and that of his 
brother over a bridge. The soldiers* names were 
reported to me, and I gave orders that they at once 
be treated in like manner. I do not like to lose good 
soldiers, especially at this time, but three or four, 
more or less, will not be noticed much." 

''April 16, i860. — My wife has given birth to 
another boy, and I am happy. I hope he will live 
to be a great man and a governor-general." 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 53 

*'June 16, i860. — These Wangs [Taiping gen- 
erals] would murder me as they caused my good and 
noble brother to die at Taitsang, but there is a 
plentiful supply of blood in my veins yet, and a 
brain to accomplish much against the Long-Haired 
Rebels and their chieftains.". 

In that same month and year he for the first time 
mentions by name the "Ever Victorious Army" 
[The Chang-shing Kiun], of which Colonel Charles 
Gordon, of the British Army, was later to become 
commander, and with whom he was to deliver such 
a succession of telling defeats upon the rebels in the 
provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsi that the power 
of the Taipings was completely broken, and the 
authority of the Manchu Dynasty restored through- 
out the region. In the mean time the writer of these 
memoirs, promoted to the command of the Imperial 
forces in both provinces, was also acting as Governor 
ad interim; and was shortly to be fully commissioned 
from Peking upon the high recommendation of 
Governor-General Tseng-kofan. 

He writes: "It has never been my belief that it 
was well to encourage foreigners to meddle in the 
home affairs of the kingdom, and I believe if I were 
in supreme authority now, or had been in the years 
of this Long-Haired rebellion, I would not have 
memorialised the Throne to allow the English and 
the French to supply troops in its suppression; but 
Tseng-kofan is a man of great wisdom, and he is my 



54 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

strongest champion; therefore I will not criticise 
nor even pretend to follow a path that veers in the 
slightest from the one he would deem most suitable. 
Tseng-kofan says the foreigners, at least their reli- 
gion, is responsible for this present scourge, and that 
it is well if they lose a few thousand of their soldiers 
and marines in bringing an end to it. Undoubtedly 
this is true, but at the same time is n't it possible to 
believe that these yang kuei [foreign devils] are often 
at the bottom of such troubles as this, that they 
may be given a good excuse for stepping in and mak- 
ing claims for their nations on account of their aid? 

"Yet, I must say that they have been a great help, 
more especially the English, who have sent in the 
past four years many well-trained soldiers to our 
aid. They are splendid fighters and worthy men, 
for foreigners, when they are, sober; but they have 
neither liking nor respect for the Imperial troops 
when they are filled with intoxicants, and it requires 
much of the time of our patriotic army to keep them 
within bounds after the capture of a city. They 
eat and drink everything they can find, but they do 
not mistreat our women, and they kill non-combat- 
ants only upon great provocation. 

"I have presented to Wu of Sung-kiang a sum of 
money to divide with the American, Ward, who is 
doing such energetic work in recruiting my 'Ever 
Victorious Army,' and I have recommended to the 
Viceroy that this man be made a general. I have 
not seen him as yet, but I have learned of many of 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 55 

his exploits, and am ready to believe that he is a 
most hard-working and courageous man." 

'^January 5, 1861. — Sung-kiang, which is occu- 
pied by the Long-Hairs in great numbers, must be 
retaken at once at all costs, and I have sent orders to 
Wu and Ward to consult with me at once regarding 
it. The 'Ever Victorious Army' has been lying in 
idleness now for many days, and it may be necessary 
for me to assume personal command again. I would 
not care so much about several weeks or months of 
rest, for I have found that my own body has great 
pains and fatigue after all this campaigning; but 
while they are resting they eat more than during this 
fighting. When they are marching or engaged in 
battle, they are always on the lookout for food and 
drink, and they manage to get it somehow. But when 
they remain idle in big numbers, they get lazy and 
mutinous, and want the food brought to them. This 
alone requires the services of many extra men, and 
the expense of the food is hard to bear. Besides, 
w^hen they are idle they are given to much excess 
and lawlessness upon their own accounts, and do 
not hesitate to demand more pay than is coming to 
them. I think it is best to keep them fighting; then 
they are more likely to want to sleep at night, in- 
stead of prowling about making trouble for them- 
selves and others." 

In December, 1862, we find: — 

"It is sad to know that the right kind of a 



56 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

commander to succeed Ward has not been found, 
although several have been tried. Ward was an 
energetic fighter, and if he could only have lived 
there would be great benefits resulting to the Im- 
perial cause and many honours for himself. In all 
places where he was in charge he was almost sure of 
victory, and the Long-Hairs began to fear his name 
alone. 

"I was with him when he died at Tsz'ki, and the 
tears came to my eyes when he breathed his last. 
It was affecting to know that he so grieved because 
he was dying so far from all his family and friends, 
and this seemed to be of more moment than his 
actual dying. Though he had drawn in full the pay 
for all his soldiers, he had a considerable sum due 
him as lieutenant-commander of the Chang-shing 
Kiun, but he made no mention of it, and I will have 
it spent in a shrine to his memory." 

The same day he writes: "Neither Burgevine 
[an American who succeeded to Ward's command] 
nor Holland [an English ex-officer] has been able 
to do anything with the reorganisation of the force. 
I think from their actions they only pretend a mili- 
tary education. I have therefore consented that 
Major Cooke, who comes with fairly good docu- 
ments, may take command and see what he can do. 
Both my feet trouble me, and my back is very lame 
from last year's fall at Kiang, else I would resume 
individual command." 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 57 

" February 18, 1863. — I have received word from 
Sir Frederick Bruce and General Staveley that one 
of the best of English officers, a Colonel Charles 
Gordon, will be given us to take command of the 
'Ever Victorious Army." The Governor says that 
this fine officer will serve without pay, which is not 
only very gracious and generous of the great English 
Government, but very pleasing to me; for the cost 
of this long and terrible scourge is appalling to the 
provincial treasuries, as well as depleting to private 
funds. Can it be, though, that this officer is not 
worth much, and that he is of little service to his own 
Government? In these days valuable services are 
seldom given unless something of equal or greater 
worth is expected in return." 

^^ February 28, 1863. — Another communication 
has been brought me from the English, this time 
from Colonel Gordon himself. He writes but very 
briefly, in his own language, and says that it must 
be understood that he is to be in supreme command 
or not at all. 

"That is just the manner of all these foreigners 
who come into our service, even when they them- 
selves are seeking the position, and are held waiting 
many days or weeks for their answer. Of course 
I cannot say this of this English officer, for he did 
not apply for a generalship nor does he want pay. 
He does not say this last himself, but his superiors do, 
and that is sufficient for me. However, if he is an 



58 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

able man and can make of the army the kind of 
weapon that is needed now to break the necks of all 
these Taipings, I will see to it — regardless of what 
his Government may say — that he is well rewarded 
in honours and money." 

(Without date). — "The thought is troubling me 
that this new British colonel and myself may not 
get along very well together. That letter of his 
announcing that only upon the condition that he 
be given supreme command would he consent to 
fight the rebels, has caused me considerable uneasi- 
ness. Ward said the same thing, so did the useless 
Burgevine and the incompetent Holland. As for 
Cooke, he would have been a good general over a 
crowd of loafers to lead camels to water. 

"I hate all these foreigners, but it would not be 
wise to let them know. It is not the men personally 
that I dislike, but it is their airs of wonderful 
superiority. Each and every one sings the same song : 
'I will do this and I will do that; I will drive them 
out or I will kill them all; I '11 make your army more 
glorious than ever; but you must let me have my 
own way and not interfere with me.' 

"That is the whole style of the foreigners, espe- 
cially as I have seen them in this war. And it makes 
hair grow stiff on my neck to know that because of 
the emergencies constantly arising we are obliged 
to put up with it, and say, 'Yes, yes,' and smile. 
Some day I will ask them the question: 'Was your 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 59 

country civilised and studying the Seven Arts before 
ours, and were you born in a century of greater wis- 
dom than myself?'" 

Perhaps it might be well here to explain that, 
without justification, the Taiping hordes which 
marched upon the defenceless inhabitants of Kiangsi, 
Anhuei, Chekiang, and Kiangsu, destroying and 
outraging, and disputing the Imperial authority of 
Peking, were led by men claiming authority from 
the "God of the Christians and his Elder Brother, 
Jesus Christ." This was owing to the fact that their 
supreme leader. Hung Siu-tsuen, who had at one 
time imbibed a few dreamy notions from a mission- 
ary tract which had fallen into his hands, declared 
that' in a vision the "God of the Christians" had 
appointed him Emperor of China. 

Li Hung Chang, with prominent men of his time, 
including Tseng-kofan, and Prince Kung, — as well, 
of course, as the Court, — believed the Taiping 
Rebellion to be the direct result of foreign teachings 
in China; when, as a matter of historical fact, the 
chief Christian missionary of the time in the king- 
dom. Rev. I. J. Robberts at Canton, refused to take 
Hung Siu-tsuen's mentality seriously, and made light 
of the latter's alleged "visions." 

In no sense did Siu-tsuen receive encouragement 
from any Christian nation or quarter, yet the fact 
of his having announced himself as the anointed one 
to lead the Chinese people to a religious life such as 



60 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

the "foreign devils" practised, was sufficient in itself 
to characterise the rebelHon as a Christian attack 
upon the Pure Dynasty, and to place the odium 
of the horrible warfare of the Taipings upon the 
Church of the foreigners. 

It is not surprising, therefore, that Li Hung 
Chang, whose relations with foreigners had up to 
this time been practically nil, and whose mind had 
not perhaps entered upon its broadening period, 
should write as we have seen — with more malice in 
his heart, no doubt, than he saw fit to commit to 
words; yet it is to his everlasting credit that, with 
ripening years and a fuller understanding of the 
"Western Church," he became, as other parts of 
these memoirs tell, one of its warmest friends. 

" March 27. — It is a direct blessing from Heaven, 
I believe, the coming of this British Gordon, whom 
I am already designating General. It appears that 
he has seen some service before in China with the 
Anglo-French troops, and that for a time he was at 
Tientsin. However, now that I have met him per- 
sonally, and we are quite like friends, I am very well 
pleased with him. 

"He is superior in manner and bearing to any of 
the foreigners I have come into contact with, and 
does not show outwardly that conceit which makes 
most of them repugnant in my sight. Besides, while 
he is possessed of a splendid military bearing, he is 
direct and businesslike. Within two hours after his 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 6i 

arrival he was inspecting the troops and giving 
orders; and I could not but rejoice at the manner in 
which his commands were obeyed. 

"It seems that the British Government simply 
'lends' him to us, and that he will not be on the 
Imperial pay-roll at all. I am afraid that this is bad 
in a certain sense, for the man that offers his serv- 
ices to you gratuitously is more apt to be independ- 
ent and ready to throw up his position than the one 
who is receiving even small wages. I must arrange, 
some way, to have General Gordon accept money." 

"April 7. — General Gordon, with 3000 members 
of the 'Ever Victorious Army' and 15,000 or 16,000 
of regular Imperial troops and irregular Provincials, 
is pressing a hard attack upon the rebels at Fushan. 
I gave them some pay the day before yesterday and 
let it be known that as soon as Fushan is completely 
in our hands another good payment will be made. 
Then, when Suchau is again under our control, I told 
them, full payment and a bounty would be given 
each member of the force under Gordon." 

"May 2. — ^.A former hein-kwan at Taitsang-fu 
brought me complaints that Gordon's men, when 
they captured the place, stripped it as dry as a fish- 
bone of everything valuable, and killed surrendered 
rebels by the hundreds. He was very excited, this 
late hein-kwan, and asked if I would not give him 
an order to Gordon to protect his life and property. 



62 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"The impudence of this rdscal, who himself en- 
couraged the Long-Hairs at Taitsang because he 
could not hold his office for ever ! I long have known 
the thieving propensities of this traitor, and, during 
the time he was gesticulating his complaint, I was 
wondering if it would not be well to call some of the 
guard and have an end made to his troubles in the 
yard. But I thought better of it, and so sent him 
back with a letter to Gordon, written by Hoh in 
English, asking the Commander to please cut the 
fellow's head off upon its presentation. He went 
away very gleefully." 

(No date attached; probably written in mid- 
May.) — ''What a sight for tired eyes and elixir 
for a heavy heart it is to see this splendid English- 
man fight! I have just returned from nine days and 
nights with him, and if there is anything that I 
admire nearly as much as the superb scholarship of 
Tseng-kofan, it is the military qualities of this fine 
officer. Fight — move — fight again — move again 
— landing his men — planning by night and execut- 
ing by day — planning by day and executing by 
night! He is a glorious fellow! 

"Yesterday when I left him to return for a brief 
space, I told him he was my brother; that I consid- 
ered him worthy to fill the place of the brother who is 
departed. Could I have said more in all the words of 
the world? The Englishman's face was first filled 
with a deep pleasure, and then he seemed to be 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 63 

thinking of something depressing and sad; for the 
smile went from his mouth and there were tears in 
his eyes when he thanked me for what I had said. 
Can it be that he has, or has had, some great trouble 
in his life, and that he fights recklessly to forget it, 
or that death has no terrors for him?". 

(Without date.) — "I am sorry there Is not entire 
harmony between Ching and Gordon. The reports 
from each of them regarding the other indicate an 
ill-feeling." 

"June 12. — A number of officers, who have been 
cashiered by General Gordon, appealed to me to rein- 
state them, but I have refused to do anything of the 
kind. It is my belief that they should have been forced 
away from the army a long time ago. They have no 
patriotism, but look only for booty and fresh wives." 

"Later. Same date. — General Ching threatens 
to resign if some curb is not put upon General 
Gordon. Perhaps it was a mistake to tell Gordon 
that he was under my direct orders, and that Ching, 
though commander of the forces against the rebels, 
was not to interfere directly with the ' Ever Victori- 
ous Army.' Ching is far from being a great military 
man. Besides, he has a bad temper like Gordon, and 
they are both quick to say hot words, like myself." 

"July 19. — Gordon must control his tongue, 



64 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

even if he lets his mind run loose. To be told that I 
am secretly favouring Ching and trying to put him 
in complete control of the forces, including the * Ever 
Victorious Army,' when there is no truth in it, and 
to be further accused of withholding money that is 
due the troops, is hard to bear. General Gordon 
demands the respect of those who are inferior to him 
in rank, and he believes in strong measures to main- 
tain discipline. Why, then, does he not accord me 
the honours that are due as head of the military and 
civil authority in these parts?" 

^^ July 28. — Ching came again to-day with com- 
plaints against Gordon. I drove him from my pres- 
ence and directed him to return to his command. 
These things keep me awake nights, and make me 
sleepy during the hours when I should be devoting 
my best energy and attention to my duties." 

(No date.) — "Gordon thinks of nothing but 
money these days, and demands coin of me as if I 
were the god of gold and silver. He says the men 
will not fight any more unless they are paid. I tell 
him that as soon as Suchau is in our hands there will 
be funds sufficient to pay all arrears and some good 
bounty. This is the word that I have from the Vice- 
roy, and his promises come from the Throne." 

During the following week nothing appears in Li's 
memoirs regarding the numerous troubles and 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 65 

changes which beset him during that time, culmi- 
nating in the virtual resignation of General Gordon 
and his departure for Shanghai, where he hoped to 
have his action ratified by his British superiors. Sir 
Frederick Bruce and General Staveley. But, arriying 
in that city, he ascertained that Burgevine, the 
American who had succeeded to the command of the 
"Ever Victorious Army" upon the death of Ward, 
had but lately gone over to the Taipings with about 
one hundred foreigners from Shanghai, and was at 
that moment within the rebel stronghold of Suchau. 
The English officer had for some weeks been making 
preparations for an assault upon this city, and, in- 
deed, had reduced and captured Wukiang, Kahpu, 
and other important outlying towns and strong 
stockades, and but for the jealousies and bickerings 
between Governor Li, Ching, and himself, was in 
excellent condition for making a successful attack 
upon Suchau. He was still very fretful because of 
the apparent overlording of those to whom he was 
giving his valuable services; but the duplicity of 
Burgevine evidently halted the gallant soldier in his 
purpose of resigning, and we find him returning to 
his post within a few weeks. 

^^ September — . — With his many faults, his 
pride, his temper, his tongue, and his never-ending 
demand for money, Gordon is a noble man, and, in 
spite of all I have said to him or about him, I shall 
ever think most highly of him. If he would only 



66 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

scorn to pay any attention to what Ching might 
say, and forget about the cursed pay for the troops ! 
Damn them! They will do nothing without pay 
now but eat and drink and sleep; yes, and insult 
innocent people." 

''September — . — I have ordered Ching to remain 
by my side for a time and interfere not at all with 
General Gordon." 

''September — . — I gave Gordon a month's pay 
for seven thousand men to-day, and offered him one 
thousand taels in English coin for himself. He took 
it all, saying that he would apply the latter upon the 
pay of his officers. He is an honest man, but difficult 
to get along with." 

"November 28. — The first serious defeat of the 
'Ever Victorious Army' occurred last night at the 
Suchau walls. More than three hundred officers and 
men were killed and Gordon had a narrow escape. 
However, he is preparing for a final assault upon the 
city, and asks me to prevent Ching from interfering 
with his plans. This I will do." 

"November 29. — Ching understands that, while 
he is in command of the Kiangsu forces, he must not 
attempt to thwart the plans of Gordon in our assault 
upon Suchau." 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 67 

^^ December 2. Afternoon. — The Muh Wang [lead- 
ing Taiping general] was publicly assassinated within 
the city to-day. It is glorious news, for it shows that 
the Wangs are not harmonious among themselves, 
and that our negotiations looking to the surrender 
of the city will be most welcome shortly. Three 
thousand women were sent out of the city to-day to 
be fed by our troops, but Ching drove them back." 

'^December 6. — Negotiations for the surrender 
of the city being completed, I have issued an order 
granting pardon to the Wangs and a majority of 
their followers. The surrender will occur at three 
o'clock. Gordon is reported as personally visiting in 
the city. I cannot see what nature of business would 
call him to go alone to carry on negotiations with 
the Wangs. Ching has declared time and again that 
Gordon has a secret understanding with the leaders 
of the rebels, and even that he has been in communi- 
cation with the dastardly Burgevine. This does not 
look right to me, but nevertheless I cannot suspect 
this man, who returned of his own accord when he 
heard of Burgevine's perfidy." 

In Li Hung Chang's preserved papers relating to 
this period, but three further references are made 
to General Gordon, — one in the following brief 
account of the murder or execution of the W^angs on 
the night of their surrender of Suchau ; and another 
written on December 29, in which he says that he 



68 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

offered General Gordon, "on behalf of the Throne," 
a gold medal and ten thousand taels in British coin, 
*'but he appears injured over the death of the 
Wangs, and haughtily refuses the honour and the 
gift." 

As Viceroy Li, during his famous tour of the world 
in 1896, wrote an account of the death of the Wangs, 
for the avowed purpose of supplying copies of it to 
the English press, in the event that he should be 
questioned as to the cause of the disagreement 
between Gordon and himself, it is interesting to com- 
pare it — as it appears in another part of these 
memoirs — with this recital of the affair written on 
December 8, 1863, the morning following its occur- 
rence, by the Governor of Kiangsu himself: — 

" Suchau. Governor's Temporary Yamen. — This 
is a city of blood to-day, as it has been a vile nest of 
rebellion and starvation for so long a time. But in 
the midst of it all I am finding a peace of mind and 
body such as I have not known for years. A great 
and noble victory for the Throne has been won, and 
only a few more battles will be necessary to separate 
the rotten head of this scourge from its long-decom- 
posing body. High credit will come from the Court 
for this splendid outcome, and Prince Kung will leap 
with joy when he receives the news, which is already 
on the way. Gordon and Ching and all the men 
deserve high praise; but it is a good time that Gor- 
don's services be dispensed with. He is more head- 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 69 

strong every hour, and by the way he speaks of the 
Wangs one would think that they were brothers of 
his. 

"Last night, to please the Wangs, I invited them 
to a council of peace and a banquet, and it was inter- 
esting the way we settled old scores in words. I 
spent, too, a large sum upon the foods, and the table 
was well set. There was much merriment and good- 
nature, and I, too, enjoyed meeting these men — 
Long-Haired Rebels though they were. But I made 
a serious mistake in not having a strong guard placed 
about the east gate, at which my large boat was 
lying, and before the banquet was ended a great 
horde of lawless fellows, some of them Imperialists, 
but a majority of them drunken fellows of the Wangs' 
army, poured through the gate, killing and assault- 
ing. I was one of the first to hear the great uproar, 
and, believing the marauders might be intent upon 
dispatching me, — for threats had been made in 
many quarters, — I made my escape from the barge 
and hurriedly entered the city. Ching also managed 
to escape from the hands of the rioters, and followed 
me to the landing and into the town. Immediately 
I sent orders, by officers we met, to get troops as 
soon as possible and arrest all the rioters; but the 
orders were not quickly obeyed, and a scene of 
wholesale slaughter occurred upon the barge. I 
must make report of this to Peking; but it is not 
likely that great sorrow will be felt." 



70 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

^^ Same Day. Late. — Gordon came and accused 
me of plotting for the murder of the Wangs. I asked 
him why I should plot, or go around a mountain, 
when a mere order, written with five strokes of the 
quill, would have accomplished the same thing. He 
did not answer. But he insulted me and said he 
would report my treachery, as he called it, to Shang- 
hai and England. Let him do so; he cannot bring 
the crazy Wangs back. I am not sorry they are gone, 
but I regret the manner of their going." 

^^ Midnight. — To-morrow twelve hundred of the 
rebels will be executed. This number will include 
many of the worst fiends and outragers of the thirty 
thousand. Some of them, according to my best 
reports, were engaged in the murder of the Wangs, 
and they were looking for me." 

(Without date.) — "I have received the highest 
praises from Peking, and Prince Kung says that I 
may look for a good promotion before many moons. 
He sends earnest congratulations to Gordon and 
Ching. To the former I am to offer a gold medal 
direct from the sacred Throne, and ten thousand 
taels in English gold." 

(Without date.) — "General Gordon called upon 
me in his angriest mood. He repeated his former 
speeches about the Wangs. I did not attempt to 
argue with him, or even to explain the circum- 



RELATIONS WITH GENERAL GORDON 71 

stances, as I have done this before. He refused the 
ten thousand taels, which I had ready for him, and, 
with an oath, said that he did not want the Throne's 
medal. This is showing the greatest disrespect, and 
I shall memorialise the Throne to let him seek other 
service." 



CHAPTER IV 

AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 

"Peking, February 24, 1873. — Last night, in all 
the excitement and turmoil of the new order [the 
Viceroy refers to the assumption of government by 
the young Emperor T'ung-Chih, of whom he writes 
interestingly in another part of these memoirs], 
Her Majesty the Empress Dowager [Tze Hsi] sent 
for me, and asked with some emotion if I had made 
any offerings at the temples or shrines, because of 
the happy outcome of events. 

"And I said, bowing lower than the officials then 
present, though in rank I was above any of that 
number: — 

"'Yes, Most Glorious Empress, at many, but all 
of them in spirit alone; for, as Your Majesty is 
aware, I have, ever since my arrival at the Front 
Gate, been happy to attend to those duties Your 
Majesty has been gracious enough to honour me 
with.' 

"To this she replied: — 

"'Yes, Excellency, these things I know, and, 
knowing, thank you for. But I will now give you a 
great command, greater than any man has ever 
received from his Empress.' 

"I waited a long time, bowing low, though not 
quite prostrate, for I was then privileged in audience 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 73 

without abasement [without lying face downward, 
prone upon the tapestry of the audience marble]. 
I wondered if the Illustrious One was to command 
that of my own personal valour and devotion I was 
to perform a deed of some darkness. To me, but 
five nights before the full coming to the Throne of 
T'ung-Chih, the Empress had intimated a certain 
wish, the fulfilling of which she might command me. 

"Without asking what that desire might be — 
for secretly I knew it well — I had answered her 
that my life was hers most gladly, and that the 
more trying the sacrifice the greater would be my 
happiness. At that time she had said: 'You are a 
loyal subject of your word, Excellency, and you have 
many of them.' 

"This quip of Her Majesty's pleased me greatly, 
for in these times she is not over-humorous even 
with those whom she most highly regards. 

"'Are you of full acquaintance with the Lady 
Yuen Fi?' Her Majesty asked after long waiting. 

"It was unnecessary for the Empress so to ques- 
tion me, and without awaiting a reply she continued: 

"'Go between this hour and the same hour not 
later than two nights hence and make for me a 
great prayer at the shrine of Yuen Fi. Your Excel- 
lency has beautiful words and calm thoughts, even 
in the times of complexity; and I need not direct 
you what to say. You may leave the Presence now, 
but before you do, you may look full upon the form 
of your Empress.' 



74 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"I arose with pleasure in my heart, and it was 
truly with a great joy that I looked upon the figure 
of Her Majesty. She had arisen from her seat of 
Heavenly Grace, and I knew that she was proud of 
the exquisite attire of yellow silk and yellow gold 
in which she was arrayed. 

'''May I crave a word, Most Illustrious Queen?* 
I asked, looking into her smiling face. 

"She gave assent. 

"'My prayer to the Great Lady Yuen Fi will be 
the holier and more joyful that I have seen Your 
Majesty arrayed in the garments Her Ladyship 
invented.* 

"My words, I was sure, highly pleased the 
Empress, and I withdrew. 

"Therefore, this night at the hour of the silk- 
worm, I repaired to the temple of Yuen Fi, and 
offered up my devotions to that great one in our 
history, whose art and industry wrought so much 
for the noble women of our land, and caused the 
mouths of many millions of people to be filled through 
the labours they performed. 

"I went to the temple with but one secretary of 
my household and the bearers of my chair, and upon 
arriving I gave orders at once that the entire place 
be cleared of worshippers for the space of eighty 
minutes. Many worshippers had been in attendance 
at the shrine for several days, for the anniversary 
time of the taking of the name was at hand." 

[Li Hung Chang here intimates, quite asserts, 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 75 

that the name of China — derived from the ancient 
Mongol Sin, silk — was selected at a certain known 
time; but in another place in his writings, "The 
Domain of the Sin," he confesses that he cannot find 
authority for any statement of fact in this relation. 
— The Editor.] 

"The chief keeper of the tem^ple was abashed and 
surprised upon hearing my order, which was carried 
by the household secretary to one of the assistants, 
and he came and sought me personally outside the 
entrance. 

" ' In truth I could not believe it was Your Excel- 
lency that had arrived to offer sacrifices to the Great 
Lady Yuen Fi, and I almost doubted my secretary's 
words. But if you will have the temple cleared, the 
while I will give orders to have this done, will Your 
Excellency be so gracious as to inform his humble 
servant the reason for this order? ' 

"'No!' I replied. 'The order is sufficient.' 

"With this he went away quickly, after mumbling 
apologies; but I knew he was not pleased. Instead, 
I am certain he was much annoyed by my action, 
for I had heard that in the preceding days he had 
sought and obtained large numbers of tolls from 
those who came to lay their gifts and their hearts 
at the feet of Lady Yuen Fi ; and at this hour, as it 
transpired, he was entertaining with a feast a large 
number of his family and friends in a part of the 
temple. 

"Whatever his feelings in the matter, it was soon 



76 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

apparent that the order was being put into effect, 
for the worshippers came quickly from the place, 
and sought their homes or stood without. Then, 
in a time long enough to try one's patience, but suffi- 
^ ciently brief if one had many hours and days to spare 
in idleness, this official of the temple returned to 
where I still remained outside the entrance, and 
informed me that the place was vacant. 

"I went to the door and saw that he spoke the 
truth. Then I entered, closed the entrance-way 
behind me, and went to the sacred shrine of Yuen Fi. 

"I remained eighty minutes and ten, alone and 
undisturbed, with the spirit of that beautiful Queen 
of Industry, to whom I had been sent to speak by the 
Empress Dowager. During the eighty minutes I 
offered thanks and prayer and praise in behalf of 
the Empress, and the remaining time I spoke for 
Li Hung Chang; and all I said will ever remain in 
my memory, for they were not common words that 
I uttered, but heavenly ones borne away to the 
heavenly land, where round about the Lady of the 
Sin so many who loved her art and her industry, 
and were made beautiful or wealthy by it, are her 
subjects. 

"I returned once again to the palace from the 
shrine, but the hour was very late, and I entered only 
the Outer Gate, returning then to my own abode." 

On the following day this note is found : — 

"I am incensed at the action of the chief keeper 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 77 

of the shrine. Such inquisitiveness in a mere salaried 
official (one who is known to help himself to gift 
offerings and tolls as well) is an affront I do not 
propose to forget. His uncalled-for and impertinent 
manner did not interfere with my devotions last 
night, for I represented Her Majesty, and his affront 
was to me personally, not her. But to-day, when I 
am preparing a copy of the prayer to send to the 
Empress, I am hampered in my work by the thoughts 
of this petty official. Yet the words I uttered are so 
plain to me that only the mechanical part is made 
difficult." 

" February 26. Hour of the Sheep. — It is a satis- 
faction to accomplish things. The keeper Jun came 
to see me a time ago to beg that his place might not 
be taken from him. I told him I had nothing to do 
with his affairs, and did not care to be troubled with 
small men or matters. He went away with tears in 
his voice, and will not come back. He should have 
known better than to come in the first place, for 
after I had sent in to the Board my word of dis- 
approval of him, he would have to be a very changed 
man, and a good one, to cause me to seek his reap- 
pointment." 

" February 2"]. — To-day I had audience with 
both His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress 
Dowager. The young Emperor, now a man in years, 
and, I hope, in the things he may accomplish, is 



78 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

deeply elated when he contemplates his greater 
growth. I believe that kings, as other individuals, 
like to feel that the world, which they ofttimes pre- 
tend to despise, looks upon them as being past the 
immature age. 

"The Dowager appeared in the lovely dress of 
three nights ago, when she gave me the unusual 
mission. This, she explained, was to show me appre- 
ciation of the prayer I had uttered on her behalf to 
the Queen of the Sin, a copy of which, written largely 
by myself, on silk pages decorated long ago by Fen-lo, 
was sent her at an early hour for Her Majesty's 
perusal. 

"'You must not claim it as your own; it is too 
beautiful even for the Metropolitan Viceroy to 
indite,' she said happily. 

"His Majesty smiled, but he did not speak. 

"To Her Majesty's words I replied that I could 
not claim, if I spoke the truth, the prayer to be my 
own, for it was not. The prayer for eighty minutes 
was Her Majesty's, I told her; inspired by Her 
Majesty, coming from Her Majesty's heart and hers 
alone. 

"'But, your most gracious Majesty,* I said, 'the 
Viceroy, your most abject servant, followed with a 
prayer of his own for the space of a brief time ; and 
if you will allow I shall beg the sublime privilege of 
sending you a transcription of my own weak and 
humble effort. Your Majesty had spoken with such 
eloquence and flowers of language to the Great Lady 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 79 

Yuen Fi that my own effort must needs have been 
a mere school-boy attempt in comparison.' 

"'You are loyal and generous, Li Hung Chang,' 
said the Dowager, ' but send me a copy of your own, 
for I doubt not it is even as exquisite as mine.' 

"Having a copy with me, but written in common 
characters and upon silvered paper, I presented it 
with apologies to her. 

"But she only glanced at the paper and returned 
it to me. 

"'Your Excellency is too modest,' she said. 
'Engross the words on five thicknesses of imperial 
silk and send them to me."* 

The following is without date, but evidently was 
written some weeks later at Li's official yamen at 
Tientsin. The paper was one among a number en- 
closed in a steel figured box, all of them relating to 
persons and events associated closely with the pro- 
claiming of the Joint Government, at the Emperor's 
coming to his majority. The document itself is of 
heavy silvered paper, badly worn from folding, and 
soiled from handling, and several lines are missing. 
It is quite evident that this was the identical paper 
presented to Tze Hsi, and which she returned to 
him as an indication of her belief in his over-modesty. 

It is interesting to note in this connection that the 
silver paper manuscript, wholly literary (and reli- 
gious) in its nature, and in a certain sense chiefly 
of personal interest to the writer — at least at that 



8o MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

time and in the years following — gave evidence of 
much ''thumbing," while a score of documents of 
considerable political importance were, in some 
instances, clean and unsoiled. 



A HUMBLE MAN'S VOICE 

To Thee, O Ancestor of the Silken World, 
a humble man, with face to earth, 
which thou didst bless and make glad, 
asks of thee in all the humility of 
his soul to hear his prayer of praise 
and petition. 

To Thee, O Ancestor of a Noble Work, 
it is not given that thou shouldst 
hearken unto my words, for in the 
celestial world of the Seven Springs 
a million millions of them that drew 
from thee on earth the breath of their 
souls and the food of their bodies are 
now thy meekest servants and subjects; 
and the voices of their praise must 
ring so loud and sweet to thine ears 
that these rough words of mine are 
but as jarring sounds of discord. 

To Thee, O Gladsome Queen of a Gladsome Art, 
it cannot be known that one so poor 
and miserable as I doth even in thy 
loved land exist, much less that thy most 
degraded petitioner did in all his days 
honour and praise thy name, sing thy glories, 
pray for them that prayed to thee, thought 
by day and dreamed by night of all the 
vast goodness thou didst bestow upon 
this Flowery Land. 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 8i 

But, O Transcendent Lady of the Ancient Sin, 
I, thy miserable petitioner, did, when 
a boy, labour among the trees of the 
mulberry, feed with tender care the 
creatures thou didst teach to spin, 
threaded from their shells the divine 
gleams which thou taughtest to produce, 
wove with mine own hands the silken 
strands of thy invention, and made into 
great widths and breadths the shimmering 
fabric which is the glory of the world. 

Yet, O Yuen Fi, Goddess of the Golden Weave, 
all, all the words of this most humble 
man are true ; as true as ever lowly one 
did vouch to speak to one exalted high. 

And now, Yuen Fi, Lady of the Blessed Silk, 
I crave that thou wilt think of me in 
thy celestial sphere; that to the holy 
ones forgathered there, thou wilt but 
speak a kindly word and say that here 
upon the sordid earth, which thou alone 
didst beautify, there lives a humble man of 
poor renown, who, in all the hours of all 
his days did strive and toil by sweat of face 
and tire of brain to do thy bidding in the 
silken fields ; who . . . 

[Lines obliterated] 

My prayer, O Heavenly One, O Goddess Rare, 
though I would speak to thee the whole 
night through, in pain I do make brief; 
for well I know that in that High Beyond 
this voice of mine can hold no charm. 
But now again of thee I fain would ask: 
that in this hour of darkest night a 
newer blessing thou wilt give to all that 
work in arts of thine ; bless them that 



82 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

harvest in the fields, bless thou the 
silkworms' rounded home, bless them that 
toil at factory loom, bless them that mart 
thy precious weave, bless them that sail 
the far salt seas and take thy goods to 
foreign shore ; bless them that on their 
bodies fair — in Indies and the far beyond, 
the lands of Europe and the West, in every 
isle, in every clime, in cold and heat, in 
shine and rain, in mountain home and valley 
mild, in palace rich and humble cot, — 
where'er, O Mighty Sun-Loved Queen, thy 
name is thought or heard or sung, send 
down thy blessings like the dew ! 



Editor's Special Note. — In three distinct places 
in his memoirs, each of them written some years 
later when Li Hung Chang was holding the highest 
office in the empire, that of Grand Secretary of State 
and President of the Council, he makes mention of 
the giving of orders by himself for the rich engrossing 
and wide distribution of "Her Glorious and Illus- 
trious Majesty's exquisite 'Prayer-Song to the 
Goddess Yuen Fi,' to the end that the people every- 
where within the realm may not alone learn more of 
the great deity of the silk, but that the art and indus- 
try which is so dearly beloved of our country may 
be encouraged to greater growth and prosperity." 

It appears, from an examination of the Book of 
Records at the palace, that the Empress Dowager is 
credited with the uttering of the "Prayer-Song to 
the Goddess Yuen Fi" and its transcription; and it 
further appears that inasmuch as Her Majesty was 



AT THE SHRINE OF LADY YUEN FI 83 

very jealous of her literary ability — which, en 
passant, all authorities agree was of no mean order 
— the imperial claim to the authorship of the 
"Prayer-Song" was never questioned. 

It is certain that during his lifetime Li Hung 
Chang never publicly asserted his authorship of the 
"Prayer-Song," which he took such pains to order 
printed and distributed, and to which he refers in one 
of his published orders as "the immortal words of 
the greatest of living women to the most glorious 
and sacred woman of the ancestors." 

In the careful examination and translation of the 
Viceroy's memoirs, including the great mass of pub- 
lic documents, letters, and other papers, no manu- 
script of a "prayer" or "song," other than the fore- 
going, was found, although diligent effort was made 
with that end in view; and while there can be little 
if any doubt that he was the writer of the " Prayer- 
Song to the Goddess Yuen Fi," and a copy of it 
might very appropriately and rightly be reproduced 
in these pages, yet the fact that it is common enough 
throughout China, coupled with the inability of the 
researchers and translators to discover even a dupli- 
cate of it among the Viceroy's papers, as well as the 
further consideration that the "Prayer-Song" ren- 
dered into English would cover ten or twelve book 
pages, make its omission at least a not serious defect. 

There is, however, at least to serious literary men 
in China, as well as in Europe and America, another 
and far more important consideration, particularly 



84 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

since the "Prayer-Song" is declared by Oriental 
scholars to be a work of great merit, and as of late 
years Li Hung Chang has become known as not 
only a great statesman and diplomat and the richest 
man of his country, but a writer whose untiring 
work and high scholarship are bound eventually to 
give him front rank among the literati of his age. 



CHAPTER V 

IN THE TIME OF FAMINE 

*^ November 30, 1877. — No man in his heart will 
ever wish for a recurrence of the famine of this year, 
even though he be a hater of every person in the 
land except himself. If I live to be twice my present 
age, I do not expect to wipe out from my sight the 
terrible pictures of hunger and despair that I have 
witnessed in so many parts of the north. The Govern- 
ment has not as yet all the facts and figures, but from 
my own estimates I believe that fully 7,000,000 
people have perished for lack of food. 

"In such times as these a man wishes that he might 
be the whole Government, or of such tremendous 
wealth that he might purchase food for the many 
who hunger. Even a meal of millet or vegetables 
every two or three days will keep a man alive, and if 
he can live long enough succour is bound to come. 

" My own purse, during these trying times, I have 
opened almost as widely as it will bear; but the 
amount of food purchased thereby is as a handful of 
grain to a flock of crows. Still, it is a very great 
satisfaction to know that thousands of hungry 
stomachs have been at least partially satisfied during 
these awful months. My men report to me that from 
one to two thousand are being fed on my corn and 
vegetables in the city [Tientsin] alone, while I am 



86 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

trying to feed five thousand in the near-by villages. 
My mother, who has never known want or misery 
of a like nature in her family, is blessing me every 
day for this work; and she says the gods as well as 
the people will not forget that my wealth, such as I 
have, is not withheld from the poor and needy." 

THE SAD SIGHT OF THE HUNGRY 

!T WOULD please me, gods, if you would spare 
Mine eyes from all this hungry stare 
That fills the face and eyes of men 
Who search for food o'er hill and glen. 

Their eyes are orbs of dullest fire, 
As if the flame would mount up higher; 
But in the darkness of their glow 
We know the fuel 's burning low. 

Such looks, O gods, are not from thee ! 
No, they 're the stares of misery ! 
They speak of hunger's frightful hold 
On lips a-dry and stomachs cold. 

" Bread, bread! " they cry, these weary men. 
With wives and children from the glen! 
O, they would toil the live-long day 
But for a meal, their lives to stay. 

But where is it in all the land? 
Unless the gods with gen'rous hand 
Send sweetsome rice and strength'ning corn 
To these vast crowds to hunger born! 

For months the awful famine beast 

Has roamed the lands both North and East, 

And smiled as he on landscape read 

The gruesome figures of the dead. 



IN THE TIME OF FAMINE ^7 

His black claws clutched the stalwart man, 
The very headmen of each clan, 
The elder sons and younger ones. 
Nor e'en the baby's cradle shuns. 

In all the fields along the road, 
In each and every mean abode, 
He stops to grin in hellish way 
At famished forms turned quick to clay. 

The greater are the awful pains, 
And if the tears do fall as rains, 
This monster demon smiles the more 
While passing by each hungry door. 

He crosses now the bone-dry streams, 
And listens to the frantic screams 
Of those who on the mountain high 
Are doomed this awful death to die. 

In valley and on sandy plain 
The beast appears, again, again! 
In city and in village street. 
Where'er you go, the beast you meet! 

A million now have bowed to him. 
This famine monster, black and grim! 
O, gods, we ask, remove the brand 
Of this vile demon's bony hand ! 



CHAPTER VI 

DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE 

In more than twoscore places of his translated 
memoirs, the Viceroy mentions agriculture as a dis- 
tinct science to be cared for for its own sake, and, 
though ever asserting that he is above all things one 
of the literati, he devotes more space and words to 
the apotheosis of agriculture than to the glory of 
literature. Yet this may be satisfactorily explained 
by these lines, written in his diary at Tientsin in 

1879: — 

"One of the officers of the Summer Palace of the 
Royal Blood, who has been reading my high essay 
on the Divine Husbandman, declares that I must in 
very heart be more of a tiller of the soil than a liter- 
ary man ; for he told me (without flattery, I believe) 
that he never had held so high an opinion of the great 
Shen Nung as when he had finished reading my 
words. But he went on to say that if I were more 
devoted to literature I should never have written 
such a beautiful eulogy ; and he wanted to know why 
I had passed over Mencius and Confucius. 

"This caused me to be much amused, and I went 
on and explained that literature did not need to pay 
repects to itself; that such a thing would be seem- 
ingly selfish, for its highest aim was by the uses of 
its own beautiful weapons of brain and colours and 



DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE 89 

papers to exalt the other arts and sciences of man- 
kind that were not able thus to speak. 

'lAs we discussed the matter further, I tried to 
explain that the great philosopher and the great 
writer reared their own monuments so nobly that 
any attempts of mine to lift their names would be 
not only a waste of time, but perhaps would be 
resented by such persons as would consider me only 
a minor authority. But with Shen Nung, could I not 
see his beauties and blessings all about, and yet hear 
no great voice in praise of him? 

"And so he went away satisfied; but not so with 
me, for he did not give over into my keeping the 
manuscript he had read with such great pleasure. 
It was so nicely painted and scrolled (in as many as 
eight colours, done by my former writers of the 
Chi-lin family) that I was to have it hung about the 
walls, piece by piece. 

"But I have some other copies, and to-night I 
shall take joy in reading to the household this piece 
of mental work, of which I have always been so 
proud." 

It does not appear from the Viceroy's documents 
just when he composed the Shen Nung Tribute, as 
he calls it, for several different copies — found at 
Tientsin as well as at Canton — have different dates 
attached. One of them, a carefully engrossed copy 
found at the latter city, bears date of October 12, 
1869, or about ten years after his mention of it at 



90 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

such length as has just been told. This is a careful 
version of it: — 

MY SHEN NUNC TRIBUTE 

(Written by me from my Proud Heart) 

When I sit down and reflect, 

And let my mind and my soul tell me of things so true, 

I know that thou, 

Most glorious and sublime Shen Nung, 

Art the great helper of our people; 

The wonderful provider of the world ; 

The hope of them that have not mines. 

Nor great stores, nor forests of hardwood. 

But all our wealth comes from thee: 

All the funds of our banks. 

All the strength of the Government, 

All the force of our national progress, 

All the muscle of our people, 

The beauty of our women, 

The hard sinews of the workers, 

The strong brain of the banker. 

The level head of the statesman. 

The shrewdness of the diplomat. 

The right arm of the Throne. 

(There must always be good blood there.) 

We work in the fields: 

In the rice, 

In the millet. 

In the corn, 

In the poppy. (The poppy is wrong.) 

We work in the vegetables. 

In the grain. 

And all that is good for man. 

But 't is not for their sake alone, 

'T is that by bringing them to fruition we raise 



DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE 91 

A Nation, 

A People, 

The Middle Kingdom! 

And when we do this 

We are pleasing the Ancestors. 

Shen Nung, 

You did not teach us mean arts, 

You did not show us the way to cheat our friends, 

Our brothers, 

Our townsmen, 

Our officials, 

Even our enemies. 

You did not tell us that we should live by sloth, 

Nor smart games. 

Nor subterfuge. 

Therefore, 

This day, when I am called to go to the North, 

When vast affairs of state speak to me. 

When some might think I should be preparing for my 

journey, ^ 
I am here saying these things 
To Shen Nung. 

Even when I was a little boy, 

When my father laboured. 

When my mother scolded, 

When there were mean times in the village. 

And I was almost tired of living; 

I thought of thee, Shen Nung — 

And the green grain thou gavest, 

The yellow corn so rich in bread, 

The nodding wheat that gives colour to the blood, 

The vegetables that give strength to the bone. 

You taught us all these things, 

You made them ours, 

You made them beautiful, and gave them to us. 

You bade our land be fertile, the soil in which they grow. 



92 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Because you smiled, the winds blew fair, 

The sweet rains came like drops of glory, 

The sunshine did not hurt, 

The moon told the crops to keep growing, 

The stars blessed each head of grain, 

The dews dropped their blessings 

On the corn and the vegetables. 

And made them glad. 

For the people's sake. 

You taught the golden sun to shine, 

The night to be cool and refreshing, 

The air to be sweet and to soothe, 

The trees to hold back the storm, 

The grain to bow its heads to meet the blast. 

I see in your art, 

Shen Nung, 

The message of ages, 

And ages of sweet thinking. 

I see your blessings conceived, 

Increased, and multiplied. 

I feel the countless hours of thought you have given 

To make something 

So grand and glorious for the world. 

You did not sleep, 

You did not rest, 

You did not tire, 

You did not stop, 

Until all this 

Was ready to be placed upon the head of man 

For his everlasting blessing. 

As though you had spun 
The finest silk 
And hung it there — 
A rainbow! 



DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE 93 

It would appear that at still another time, just 
previous to a journey to Peking, the Viceroy made a 
pilgrimage in state to the shrine of the great Patron 
of Husbandry, for this dissertation is found : — 

"In a few days I shall be going north again on a 
mission of international import; but to-day I could 
not forbear paying a part of the honours due to ever 
great and glorious Shen Nung. 

"Yesterday I summoned all the persons I desired 
for the ceremony, and to-day we Tilled the Soil at 
the Temple. It would seem as if the royalties at 
Peking thought I would start right away upon the 
receipt of a message, but to me the Divine Husband- 
man is more than local or transitory things, for he 
gave us something that means the good of our people ; 
the good of all the world, I should say, for all time. 

"Last year, at this season, I sent a poetic memorial 
to the Throne, and at the same time wrote an essay 
which I hope will live along with the works of 
Mencius. Both of them were dedicated to the Divine 
Husbandman, and I look for the time when the last 
one will be read in all the universities of the world. 
[This probably refers to the Tribute.] 

"Some people might think that it was in my offi- 
cial capacity only that I went to-day beyond the 
East Gate to the temple. Yes, let us agree that it 
might have been so; for the man in office, especially 
in high position, is called upon to show good example. 

"It is wrong for any man to commit sin with 
daughters of other men when he has no licence to 



94 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

do so; but it is a grievous wrong for an official to do 
these things, because he is watched by thousands, 
and his actions are approved by those who would do 
likewise. It is this way: When a low man has no 
right to do a thing (but does it), he is ever ready and 
willing to cite the example of some individual who 
is of high estate. He seems to assume that such a 
one of great office is a kind of god who may be emu- 
lated — even when in his own soul he knows that 
emulation is crime. Great men disagree with each 
other in such matters, but the common herd only 
follow like sheep when a man of parts commits 
folly. 

"Again, we know that the low and common herd 
are for ever saying among themselves : Are there not 
greater wrongs found among the high than among 
the low? Do not the mandarins steal more than the 
boatmen? Are we not for ever hearing of scandals 
even at the Swan's Lake [probably refers to the For- 
bidden City], and fewer in the river gutters? 

"Thus we know the meaner in mind and in pocket 
speak of those of exalted position. We know, I say, 
even though we may not hear with our own ears. 
For when a viceroy, or a commissioner of the Govern- 
ment, or a mandarin, is met by the kow-tows of the 
multitude, or when the many may whisper into his 
ears, if but a word, it is ' Excellency,' 'Your Honour,' 
or even 'Your Illustrious Majesty!' — fools they 
are when they use this last to speak to a sub- 
commissioner of food supply! But they will do it, 



DEVOTION TO AGRICULTURE 95 

if but a cash [smallest Chinese coin] is dropped upon 
the pavements for their dirty hands to grasp. 

"And so I say it is for these and other reasons 
that it is a sign of the highest sagacity for the man 
in office — the lesser the office the greater is the 
virtue — to show himself at public functions of 
patriotic import, to speak strong words for high 
principles, and at the same time to appear with the 
greatest outward humility (and inward, if he be sin- 
cere) in the presence of noble ancestors or superla- 
tive deeds. 

"If a coolie decry against the holiness of the 
Philosophies, he is but cuffed and beaten, or, at most, 
his wretched head is impaled. Of this there is little 
or no matter, for even the passer-by doth not enquire 
the fellow's name. 

"But lo! if the governor of a city, the viceroy of 
a province, doth dare profane! It is not sure that 
he will be mistreated in his person, nor yet, always, 
that he may lose his office — for he may have great 
power in his region. But his words of profanation 
are as crash of sudden thunder upon the air; the 
whole city hears the spoken word, and in every house 
they ask: What was that? And soon it becomes 
known that the voice was of a mighty man defying 
something that before was thought mightier. And 
many of the ignorant, and even those more intelli- 
gent, take up the words of the great man, and say 
one to another: 'Ha! I have thought this way all 
the time, and now the Governor says the same thing, 



,96 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

and I know I am right, for he speaks with great 
knowledge and high authority.' 

"So, thinking over these things many, many 
years, I know that as I grow higher in the province 
or kingdom it is the more necessary that by my out- 
ward observances I give not only no occasion for 
scandal-makers or carriers, but that, on the other 
hand, it is my duty to ever show a respect for the 
Analects and the Laws, and for every custom that 
(not called for by the exact privileges of my station) 
may bring to the minds of the people those things 
and forms which tend toward a better respect for 
all the past. 

"Yet, as I have said, I go not to the temple of 
the Divine Tiller for the sake alone of outward 
observances. Rather do I think that my inward 
feelings form much the stronger motive: an ardent 
personal love, combined with a sense of high official 
duty." 

The following lines were written evidently some 
time later, perhaps after a rereading of the last 
paragraph, if not the entire composition : — 

"How happy indeed should I be if I could speak 
thus of all my official and private acts!" 



CHAPTER VII 

AFTERTHOUGHTS OF THE JAPANESE WAR 

Although the great Viceroy made many notes in 
his diary during his sojourn in Japan as Peace Com- 
missioner, even to dictating considerable matter 
to his secretaries from his sick-bed, — that is, matter 
of a nature such as is found in his personal manu- 
scripts, for from his sick-chamber he actually con- 
tinued the carrying on of the peace negotiations, — 
he appears not to have written much for several 
weeks after his return to China, where, though ac- 
claimed by the world as one of its most astute and 
successful diplomatists, he was received almost coldly 
by the Throne which he had saved from utter hu- 
miliation at the hands of the conquerors, and found 
himself hated and despised by millions of his igno- 
rant countrymen, who charged him with paving the 
way for the total dismembership of the nation. 

Thus he writes in retrospect at the Vice-Regal 
Yamen, Tientsin : — 

"In one's old age it is terrible to be beset by 
troubles, worries, and base falsehoods. I should 
not mind my physical ills at all, at least but very 
little, if the lies and dissatisfactions which seem to 
fill the very air could be gathered into a heap and 
go up in smoke as do the offering papers. Still, there 



98 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

is to me a great personal satisfaction in what I have 
accomplished, and within my own heart I feel that 
not in all my days have I had the right more than 
now to be proud of my labours for China. 
.^ "Yesterday, when I returned frorn Peking, I was 
sore distressed, for, while I was received by the Sacred 
Car [Their Majesties] with every indication of a 
sincere personal liking, there can be no question 
but that at least they did strongly pretend to be 
aggrieved over the terms of the treaty. Yet, what 
would they have me do? — a man with his shoulders 
flat to the ground, even though those shoulders be 
broad and strong, does not usually dictate to his 
adversary terms upon which he shall rise. \ 

" It is time for him boldly to talk terms when he 
is once more upon his feet ! And the wise man — 
and why not the wise nation? — knows enough to 
wait until he gets his breath again before talking too 
loudly. 

"If words and gesticulations could win armed 
battles, the palace and the Tsung Li Yamen would 
need neither soldiers nor ships. Yet, perhaps, I 
should not be too severe on Their Majesties nor the 
Censors, for words won my victories at Shimonoseki. 
But when a noisy rascal like An Wei-chun memorial- 
ises the Throne against me — he who could do 
nothing of value for Tze Hsi in the field nor as a 
Peace Commissioner, and who has lived by bribery 
all his days — I am incensed to the core ; and were 
my life younger and a world before me instead of 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 99 

behind me I should take him to task severely. 
Hound that An Wei-chun is! 

" I think that deep within her the Empress under- 
stands fully my stand in all this miserable Japanese 
affair, and that in her own records she will place me 
right in history. Some men would not care what 
posterity might say or think of them, but after all 
these years of mine of ceaseless endeavour, both to 
help the nation and to build up a name for myself, 
I cannot bear to think that coming generations might 
regard me in any light other than a patriot who 
attempted well and did not always fail. 

"From what I am able to learn of my English 
friends here [Tientsin] nearly all foreigners blame 
me for the war with Japan. I am not so much inter- 
ested in what the devils think as in what they say, 
for, sooner or later, so terribly wide and deep is 
the devils' influence throughout Asia, that what is 
thought in London and New York is finally accepted 
as fact in Hong-Kong, Tokio, and Peking. There is 
to-day, and has been for nearly a decade, altogether 
too much correspondence back and forth between 
our country and Europe. The correspondents write 
many hundreds of things which are as far from the 
truth as my life is removed from that of Kang He, 
or my work in letters from his. And the editors and 
publishers far away believe all this stuff, — they 
have no other reliance, because their own foreign 
offices will not talk, — and so the whole world gets 
wrong impressions. 



100 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"Some say that because I was foremost in advo- 
cating an army and navy I should receive the most 
blame for whatever warlike complications the coun- 
try gets into. What damnable, hellish, good-for- 
nothing nonsense! 

"The enemies at Peking, getting their tips of 
thought from some of my enemies abroad, have 
asserted that because I urged China to make prepa- 
rations for war — which is as likely to happen to any 
country at any time as a Yunnan dam is to give way 
before its flood of waters — I invited the hostility 
of the foreigners, especially of Japan. Such reason- 
ing is worthy only of a slut puppy! If a bank builds 
iron doors, or a pawn-shop puts bars upon its win- 
dows, may we say that these are invitations to strong- 
fists and hard-faces to break in? Do we rail at a 
man, who, having a house full of jade ornaments 
and rich pottery, causes strong shutters to be placed 
over his windows so that he may close them at night? 
If a man stand at the edge of his rice-field, cudgel 
in hand, while a caravan is passing, do we claim that 
his attitude is one of invitation to enter and destroy? 
— or rather do we not commend him as one who is 
ready to defend his fields that they be not destroyed? 

"The truth is, and I have stated it boldly in the 
north and south, and to Marquis Ito, Prince Ching, 
and even to the Empress and the Court, to say 
nothing of the miserable, corrupt An Wei-chun him- 
self, — though I shall never foul my tongue by 
addressing that hair-brained Censor again, — that 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR loi 

for twenty-two years I have been opposed to a 
belligerent attitude toward our Island Neighbours; 
and that last year, on the 3d, 7th, and 9th days of 
the second moon, personally and with vehemence, 
I urged the Throne against any precipitate action 
against the Japanese. Upon the last occasion Her 
Majesty flew into the worst rage in late times, and 
desired to know if, in matters of international 
import, I had begun to regard myself as superior to 
the Emperor. 

"Of course I did not, and the question was idle, 
as are most questions asked or statements made in 
that condition of mind; and, furthermore, I have 
been too long a soldier, either giving or receiving 
orders, not to know what commands are. 

"Even one of the first compliments ever paid me 
by a person of note was when, in Kiangsu, after I 
had been under him less than two years, Tseng- 
kofan, with all his knowledge of the academy and 
the guidance of troops, said that I was not only ever 
alert to see that orders were obeyed, but promptly 
and fully to obey in spirit and in letter those which I 
received. 

"Glorious and departed Tseng-kofan! 

"My head is very painful to-day. I have written 
too much and worried too much for an old man, 
' an old fool ' that damnable Censor calls me — I 
hope the ancestors hate the culprit — and I must 
eat and sleep. 

"I am afraid this last tea is not so good. Kee 



102 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

maintains that it is our own best yu-tsin. If it is, 
I think we had better return to sou-chong. 

"An American is here with a letter of Mr. Fos- 
ter's." 

''Hour of the Monkey [3 p.m.]. — I thought the 
American came with a letter of introduction, and 
that he might be looking for an interview. I do 
believe he was a journalist, but he came on a mission 
that is most pleasing, for he brings a letter from Mr. 
Foster [formerly American Secretary of State, who 
assisted Viceroy Li in the Japanese peace negotia- 
tions], and he says that all the reports he has been 
able to receive upon the opinions of men whose views 
are worth obtaining (in both Japan and the United 
States) believe that we have come out far ahead in 
the treaty. 

"This is, indeed, news to gladden the gizzard of 
old Li! I shall see to it that this bountiful harvest 
of words reaches every part of the country, and par- 
ticularly the capital. In the south they will learn it 
afterwards, just as they learn everything." 

Secretary's Foster's letter was carefully printed, 
probably for select distribution by Li, and several 
copies were found among the latter's papers. While 
it is not strictly a part of the Viceroy's memoirs, 
and not in the broader sense confidential, nor even 
a state document, it is thought justifiable to intro- 
duce it in this part of the work. 



f AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 103 

American Legation, Tokio, ' 
June 7, 1895. 

My dear Friend and Viceroy, — Your good 
letter of some two weeks ago has been following me 
about, and only on Monday night caught up with 
me here, where I am awaiting Washington mails and 
further instructions upon certain matters. 

I was made happy to hear that your head does 
not trouble you nearly as much as formerly, and it is 
my earnest hope that you will be wholly mended by 
the time you receive this letter. You will recall that 
one of the last things you said to me was that 
you would not allow worries to kill you, since the 
Japanese maniac's bullet could not do it; but I fear 
you have not been quite true to your word, and that 
your complete recovery might have been an accom- 
plished fact by this time if you had simply remained 
indoors, and let nature and the physicians bring you 
about. 

My dear Viceroy, it is the height of folly for you 
to let your enemies at the capital bother you with 
their opinions and outbursts. Had you succeeded 
in annexing Japan they would have accredited you 
only with ulterior motives. 

You must remember, and doubtless you do, that 
never in the history of the world — so far as I am 
aware — has there been signed a treaty of peace 
which pleased all parties, or even one party wholly. 
One side or the other (more often both sides) is cer- 
tain that the opposite party got the best of the bar- 



104 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

gain; and the mission of peace plenipotentiary is at 
best a thankless one, particularly when you are repre- 
senting the vanquished, if not the weaker, nation. 

It might not be quite politic for me to come out 
publicly and say so, but I have no hesitation in 
telling you that all the world, including Japan, out- 
side your own nation, believes you accomplished a 
truly remarkable victory in the negotiations. My 
cables from home, some official, but mostly personal, 
indicate that the Mikado is judged to have lost much 
that his armies had gained, because of your superior 
ability; and, between us, we are mutually aware that 
you did not expect to go home with "a tooth in your 
mouth or a hair in your head," as you so humorously 
expressed it. 

Therefore, let all this carking, senseless criticism 
go by. It can do you no harm, either now or in the 
future. I hear you have lost or will lose some of your 
decorations and dignities ; but they will all come back 
to you, augmented by others. Whether they do or 
not, you will be always possessed of the conscious- 
ness of having served well your country and people. 
— Believe me Your Excellency's friend and well- 
wisher, 

John W. Foster. 

" Fourth Day of the Sixth Moon [June 30]. — I have 
seen and heard so many misstatements regarding 
my actual words and propositions at the Peace 
Meeting that I am to-day writing the actual pros 



, AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 105 

and cons which led up to the final agreement and 
signing. This same statement I will send as a sup- 
plementary report to the Throne, with the request, 
which will be granted, that it be inscribed in the 
Records of the Dynasty. I shall also forward a copy 
of it to Count Ito, asking that high-minded man to 
read it and point out to me where I am in error, if 
I am. 

" Let it first be known that only the sincere desire 
to be of some service to Their Majesties and to the 
people led me to hazard going to Nippon. I had 
never set foot on a foreign shore, and it was my wish 
to live and die in China, without the reproach of 
setting foot on alien soil. 

"At the same time I was opposed to the sending 
of the former missions. I urged with all my force 
and strength, first, against the sending of Mr. 
Detring, and, second, against the going of Chang- 
yin-hoan, for I could not imagine the Japanese 
Government, or any other of importance, treating 
with men of such rank and credentials in a matter of 
such momentous consequence. 

"When I was informed by the Foreign Office that 
it was determined by the Palace that Chang-yin- 
hoan be sent, I made haste to protest ; for I believed 
a mission headed by him could result in nothing but 
failure. Then it was that I was asked, not kindly 
nor with consideration, if I had been on the alert for 
such a task myself. 

"Why should I be? I had spoken and laboured 



io6 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

against war and, now, if I were to appear anxious 
to bring it to an end, it certainly would be charged 
that because of personal financial interests, rather 
than for the general good, I was hoping to stem the 
Japanese advance ; for it is as well to put it down in 
writing now : no man or set of men in China could 
count their individual losses or expenses alongside of 
mine. Fen-lo has been figuring for weeks, and he is 
still at it, so as yet there is no telling what Li Hung 
Chang put into this unfortunate conflict; but in 
munitions and supplies (my paid-for goods) about 
2,650,000 taels, and in actual cash — the amount 
cannot be correctly known for some time yet — 
probably 2,300,000 taels. All Peking and Tientsin, 
and the centre and south, were aware of this; and 
had I rushed forward to urge myself as an ambas- 
sador plenipotentiary it would have immediately 
been whispered, then talked aloud, and finally told 
in the language of lions, that the Viceroy Li, to save 
his own private fortune, was willing to sacrifice the 
honour of the nation and the glory of the Throne. 

"Yes, I wanted peace; wanted it quite as much 
if not more than any Chinese, and I was daily and 
hourly losing more individually than was any entire 
prefecture in the empire, but I was not sufiiciently 
anxious for it to smirch my name and forever lose 
my reputation. 

" I had treated with Count I to on Korean affairs 
before, and I learned from agents of mine in Japan 
that the Government there wanted to treat with me 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 107 

in any matters relating to a cessation of hostilities 
or a permanent peace. This was known, too, at 
Canton and Hong-Kong, as well as at Peking. The 
Council knew it, so did the Foreign Office. Still I 
was not anxious, at any time, on my own account, 
to go out and seek peace; and it was only upon, first, 
the entreaty and, finally, the absolute command of 
Their Majesties that I did go. 

" I am not sorry that I went, but my heart is sore 
distressed to think that my going was necessary. 
\v"It was the Empress herself, for His Majesty, 
who commanded me to go. For the first time in all 
my acquaintanceship with Her Glorious and Illus- 
trious Majesty, I had occasion to feel a sense of pity. 
I had always revered, or, at least, happily and loy- 
ally obeyed her; but now it seemed as if the aged 
Viceroy was her only hope. And I left for Japan 
with these cruel words ringing in my ears : — 
^^'^' You made the war; now see if you can unmake 
it without humiliating your country before the dogs 
of Nippon.' 

"It was Prince Ching who uttered these words. 

"They rang in my tired ears all the way to Ja- 
pan; they made themselves heard when I met the 
Mikado's envoys; and they burned into my brain 
deeper than did the would-be assassin's dirty bullet! 

" I wonder if I had died in that foreign land, died 
in the service of my country, would my enemies 
have laughed, railed, or shed tears? 

"When I arrived in Japan, and the usual formal 



io8 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

courtesies were over with, Count I to personally 
called upon me at my place of temporary abode, and 
we chatted as old-time friends rather than peace 
ambassadors of two neighbouring nations that were 
thirsting for each other's blood. There can be no 
question but that the people in north and central 
China and the entire people of the Japanese Empire 
were feverish for a continuation of the war. What 
poor fools the populace at times make of themselves, 
more especially when they do not have even a fair 
inkling of what is at stake ! 

"One of the first things I to said to me was: 'Why 
did you send the Kow-hsing to Korea? ' 

"'I?' I asked. 'I am not the Chinese Govern- 
ment.' 

"Thus it was that at the very outset of the 
negotiations, the very day of our landing, in fact, 
I was made to face the assertion that personally I 
was responsible for the war; in other words, that but 
for me the Imperial Government would never have 
taken aggressive action. 

"I made this reply to the chief plenipotentiary 
of the Mikado: 'Count I to, you and I have together 
gone over this Korean question before, and we were 
able to understand each other perfectly, because we 
spoke frankly, and I hope these present negotiations 
will be conducted in a similar manner. Therefore, 
at the outset, let me take what blame is truly mine. 
I did advise the sending of troops to Korea, in fact 
many of the troops that came were mine. But I had 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 109 

the unqualified assurance from Peking that a mes- 
senger would leave for Tokio far in advance of any 
troopship, and that the Government of the Mikado 
would be amply warned of Chinese intentions. In 
this, if I was fooled, my province and troops were 
fooled, and the nation was brought face to face with 
this rupture.' 

" * I believe every word Your Excellency is saying,' 
said the Count. 

"'The Viceroy is unquestionably speaking the 
truth, and the truth only,' said Mr. Foster, who was 
with me when Count I to called. 

"There was a silence of many moments following 
these words of the American diplomat, and during 
that time I noticed that there were friendly and 
knowing nods between the latter and the Japanese 
ambassador. 

' "'As to the Kow-hsing, Count I to,' I said — 'if 
this is simply an informal talk between us, and not 
to be carried into our negotiations — I think your 
treatment of our ship was abominable and barba- 
rous.' 

" Ito made no comment, though his face twitched. 
I believe he fought hard in order to keep back that 
word 'Yes,' which was struggling within him. 

"Shortly after this he took his leave, and we did 
not meet again until the opening of the formal con- 
ference next morning. Mr. Foster remained with 
me a large part of the day and well into the night; 
and here is a fitting place to say that I feel that 



no MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

China should ever remember him as a great national 
friend, just as I shall ever cherish him as a true and 
helpful personal one. Indeed, I do not hesitate to 
say that but for Mr. Foster the case might have 
gone more heavily against us, though he was by no 
means one-sided in his views — on several points in 
the dispute actually taking the view of the Japanese. 

"My very first proposition to the conference was 
that an immediate armistice be declared. I urged 
that inasmuch as we, the fully accredited representa- 
tives of our respective nations, were there assembled 
for the avowed purpose of arranging a peace protocol, 
it was extremely strange if the very Governments 
which had sent us upon our missions should at the 
same moment and hour be issuing orders to generals 
in the field and admirals on the sea. 

"I spoke for some time upon this phase, one of 
the longest addresses of the kind I ever made; and 
when I had finished there was silence for many 
minutes. This was followed by the retiring of Count 
Ito and his colleagues to a part of the room by them- 
selves; after which they took their places, and 
Count Ito said : — 

"'Your Excellency's proposal is agreeable to us as 
representatives of Mutsuhito, His Imperial Japan- 
ese Majesty; but we are compelled to demand that 
during at least the period of the armistice the Chinese 
Government shall turn over for safe keeping the 
fortress and munitions, permanent, at Taku and 
Shanghaikwan, the railway and rolling stock of the 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR in 

Tientsin line, free of every interference, and the fort 
and munitions, permanent, at the city of Tientsin.' 

"I was dumbfounded at this proposal, and had I 
not kept fully in view the great seriousness of our 
conference, and the nature of the men composing 
the Japanese delegation, I should have thought Count 
Ito guilty of perpetrating a great bit of humour. 
Frankly, I was astounded to think that such a con- 
dition — precedent to an armistice — should be 
made, and it appeared as if I were unable to find 
words with which to express my surprise. Indeed, 
all I could do upon the moment was to ask Count 
Ito to have the graciousness to repeat what he had 
said. To think that he seriously intended that we 
should turn over the Gate to the Capital itself, to- 
gether with our munitions of war, was truly baffling. 

''Count Ito repeated, word for word, as before. 

"As he proceeded each syllable seemed to rouse 
a new anger within me, and it was with considerable 
difficulty that I restrained myself when he had 
finished. 

"I looked over at Mr. Foster, who was only as a 
spectator up to this time, and I saw that his face was 
ashen. 

" ' Are those your best and only terms? ' I asked as 
calmly as I could of the Mikado's chief ambassador. 

"'They are the only terms for an armistice,' he 
replied. 

"'Then let the war go on while we talk peace,' 
I answered. 



112 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"And the first session of the conference came 
abruptly to a close." 

"When I was again in my abode and alone, I went 
over the situation phase by phase and step by step, 
and reluctantly I came to the conclusion that the 
Japanese Government meant to impose about the 
hardest conditions possible to any terms of peace. 
The Japanese were as fully aware as myself of the 
conditions in China, for, for years, to my certain and 
personal knowledge, they had had spies, emissaries, 
and agents from one end of the country to the other. 
Peking, Tientsin, and Nanking were fairly alive 
with Japanese civil and military officers, some of 
them employed at the hotels, some on estates, many 
of them in the foreign concessions, and a few, as I 
learned, even drawing salaries or stipends from my- 
self. Of course, when I learned of these latter they 
were forthwith put out of harm's way. 

" But China was wholly unprepared for a conflict 
with Japan, and it is with no sense of personal 
boasting that I say that no one knew this terrible 
fact better than myself. Yet I had been in favour 
always of maintaining our position in Korea, for 
that country had been for centuries the vassal of 
China; and had she not been a lone long peninsula 
running down in isolation from Manchuria, the 
Japanese would never have deemed themselves as 
possessed of any more rights there than in Shantung, 
or my native Anhuei. But for the sake of peace with 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 113 

her neighbour China had agreed, in the Convention 
of 1884, at Tientsin, when Count Ito also repre- 
sented his country, that both our nations should 
withdraw their troops from the country, and allow 
the King of Korea to look after all internal disturb- 
ances of that realm. And it was further agreed, to 
this solemn effect: 'That in case of any grave dis- 
turbance occurring within the kingdom of Korea, of 
great moment or concern to China or Japan, such 
as might of necessity call for troops from the out- 
side for the suppression thereof, it is hereby under- 
stood and agreed that they shall give, each to the 
other, previous notice in writing of their intention 
to send a force; and that after the matter which 
made the call for such troops necessary is settled, 
such troops shall forthwith be withdrawn, and 
other troops shall not be further stationed at any 
place or point within the recognised kingdom of 
Korea.' 

"It was claimed by Japan that the Chinese 
Government broke this solemn clause. If it did so 
I myself was misled, for, as I informed Count Ito, 
and as I have already written, I was given plainly 
to understand at Peking that proper notification had 
been sent to Tokio a reasonable time in advance of 
the sending of help in response to the call of the 
Seoul authorities. The King believed himself unable 
to cope with the wild Tong Hak, and he very rightly 
asked the Throne for assistance, just as his country 
had been doing for centuries. 



114 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"I have made this declaration once before in the 
presence of the high contracting parties of the two 
empires, and with Mr. Foster a witness; but I wish 
here to record it as my eternal judgment. 

"Had not the Japanese Government been deter- 
mined to possess Korea at any cost, some time or 
another, it would not have hastened to despatch an 
army corps to that country immediately — immedi- 
ately, I repeat — upon receiving the bare informa- 
tion that Chinese troops had gone to Seoul in response 
to the appeal of the King of Korea. China did not 
force her troops upon Korea, nor did she seek for an 
opportunity nor an excuse to do so. On the contrary, 
the Throne and Government were quite willing, 
even anxious, that Korea attend to her own affairs. 
That country had long been a considerable burden 
upon China, and while there was, and is, and always 
will be, the kindliest and most sympathetic bonds 
between the Hermit Kingdom, so called, and the 
Chinese Empire, the latter country had nothing to 
gain even by substantially and politically incorpo- 
rating Korea as a province to be governed from a 
vice-regal yamen in Seoul or more directly from the 
Northern Capital. 

"Had Japan not been anxious to force a war upon 
China, the Government of that country would never 
have countenanced, before nor afterward, the sink- 
ing of the Kow-hsing, and the consequent murder 
of hundreds of brave men who not only were in a 
defenceless position themselves, but were going in 



' AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 115 

obedience to orders to assist in the pacification of 
Korea — not in any attack upon Japan. 

"I charge that the Government of the Mikado 
dehberately sought a conflict with China for the sole 
purpose of annexing the so-called kingdom of Korea. 
I charge that the methods pursued by the Japanese 
were underhanded and uncivilised. I charge that 
the destruction of the Kow-hsing was deliberate and 
wholesale murder, perpetrated in the name of a 
Government that pretends not only to be a leader in 
Oriental thought and learning, but to have absorbed 
the best of Occidental ideas and principles. ) 

"These are my own personal feelings and state- 
ments, but they are susceptible of corroboration by 
general facts of this war, and by records to be found 
in Tokio and Peking. Perhaps some will say — 
people say everything and anything when my life 
and motives are under consideration — that it is 
my duty to gather these proofs and submit them for 
the judgment of the world. Some will say that I owe 
this duty to China, if not to myself. Some will 
denounce me if I do not follow such a course. I 
should be denounced and vilified in any event. 

"But I have great and potent reasons for main- 
taining silence at this time, and I am sure that every 
statesman in the world will agree with me. 

"I have lately returned from a peace conference. 
The awards and the settlements have been made. 
The war is at an end, and peaceful pursuits are again 
occupying the attention of the people. My name has 



ii6 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

been signed to a great document agreeing that our 
troubles are things of the past, and that each nation 
now looks to the other for friendship and right deal- 
ing. My country feels her humiliation, and person- 
ally I am in disgrace. 

"Looking upon these things and giving them care- 
ful thought, who is there, Government or people, 
at home or in foreign lands, that would forgive me if 
I were to open up all the old cuts again and precipi- 
tate a renewal of the strife? Such I am sure would be 
the result if I were to speak out to all China and to 
all the world as I have spoken man to man, to Count 
I to at Shimonoseki. And I am not writing these 
words with any thought that they will be given 
publicity within a period during which any of the 
hot animosities engendered by this deplorable and 
uncalled-for conflict may remain. I hope for peace 
for China, peace for Japan." 

One week later at Peking the Viceroy wrote : — 
"I have pored over a mass of translated corre- 
spondence from St. Petersburg to-day, part of which 
is from my friend Count Cassini, and my old frame 
seems to be given thereby a new elixir of life ! I can 
return south with better feelings, if less honours. 

"Now once more the Throne feels more friendly, 
but there is an apparent coldness in the treatment 
accorded me by the Empress. Yet she was gracious 
enough to acknowledge that the satisfactory assur- 
ances are the result of my representations to the 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 117 

Russian Court, last year, when these troublous times 
were approaching. 

"The Empress is a strange woman, contradictory, 
and headstrong as the devil at times ; but if she feels 
she has done a great wrong, she is ever ready to 
right it if her personal dignity is not too plainly at 
stake. 

"Yesterday her mood was that of desiring me to 
say things in my own behalf. She had learned within 
an hour of their arrival the good tidings from St. 
Petersburg, the gist of them ; and I was admitted to 
her presence shortly after. 

"Briefly we discussed the Russian letters, and 
Their Majesties are heartily grateful that Japan 
will not be permitted, either now or in the future, to 
seize upon any part of Manchuria or the mainland. 

"Why did I not have these assurances before I 
went to Japan? 

"Had I known the way the Czar's Government 
feels in the matter of Japanese aggressions in Korea 
and in Manchuria, after my armistice proposal had 
been answered in the manner it was, I could have 
said — and would have said — to I to : 'Go ahead 
with the war ! ' 

"Still, there is often a very serious doubt in my 
mind as to the real object of these Europeans, and 
I have found that some of their most able and hon- 
ourable diplomats will lie with as much ease as a 
Nanking bird-hawker. , They will be as extravagant 
in their promises as a man who wishes to borrow 



Ii8 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

money but who also has no security to give — 
especially England ; they swear they intend to do 
one thing, and it is certain that beforehand they had 
it all figured out how they would do another. 

"Russia is to-day our greatest friend and our 
most-to-be-feared enemy. She is our friend because 
Great Britain and France pose as friends also. She 
wishes to be a better friend than they. She is our 
greatest enemy, because what the Russians call the 
trend of her destiny makes her so. She dominates all 
northern Asia, and hopes some day to have prepon- 
derating influence in China. 

"She will help us to^eep Japan out, because she 
herself wants to get in." 

"July 28. — I cannot think that all people are 
bad, even the worst of the Christians, for to-day 
I had an experience — just an hour ago — that 
makes me think that outside of office and business, 
outside of riches and honours, there are small hap- 
penings which touch a man's heart, and make him 
feel that humanity is not all iron and gain and false- 
hood. 

"For to-day this yamen, which for twenty-four 
years had been mine, was the destination of a great 
mission, such as never came within the compound 
before. I nearly wept to receive them. 

"Two native Christians all the way from that 
miserable town in Japan to bring me here medicines 
for my head, and to see if I was getting better! I 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 119 

wonder if this is because Christianity teaches such 
things? It must be, for the Japanese are a race that 
assume to be strong in matters o1> physical pain, and 
they are a people that hate the outsider — the Chi- 
nese most of all. Therefore, it must be some new ideas 
that this man and boy got into their heads to make 
them do such a thing. 

"With my own eyes I saw them coming up the 
steps of the yamen, and at first I told Len to send 
them away — as if I were proprietor of the place; 
but I soon saw that they were Japanese, and I won- 
dered what they might want of me, or if it was I 
they desired to see. Len let them in, but for a long 
time we could not learn just what was desired; for 
the man spoke his own tongue, or a dialect of it, and 
I could gather but a few words. 

"Ling-ho, one of my interpreters, being sent for, 
I was amazed to learn that the strange man was one 
of a number of native converts who had called to 
see me in my sick-room when I was recovering from 
the effects of the madman's bullet in my skull ; and as 
I looked at him I saw that he was telling the truth, 
for I recognised him. His name, he said, was Sato, 
and the boy that accompanied him was his thirteen- 
year-old son. 

"Sato said that all the native Christians in the 
little mission at Ketuki, near Moji — the mission 
that had at first sent the delegation to my sick-room 
with flowers — had talked about me every day since 
I was there, and had prayed to the Christian God 



120 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

for my recovery. He said that they, his mission 
friends, did not beheve in war or killing, and that 
they had understood that I had come to put a stop 
to the war. 

"'Were we not right, Your Excellency?* he asked. 

'"Yes, Mr. Sato,' I said, 'you were right. I went 
to try and stop the war. There has n't been any 
since, has there?" 

"He answered no, and said that I was a great and 
good man. 

"Then he explained that all his friends were very 
anxious to know how I was getting along. Some- 
times, he said, they would hear that I was entirely 
well, and again it would be reported that I was 
dead; so they could n't stand the uncertainty any 
longer, and collected money between them and sent 
Sato with a message of good will and some herb 
medicines. 

xl took the medicines and had my two visitors 
served with the nicest kind of boiled chicken, some 
chicken tongue on crackers, rice, cakes, and tea. 
I wanted them to stay with me for a few days, telling 
them that I would treat them well ; but Mr. Sato said 
he was already almost sick unto death to get back 
home, and that he had once or twice nearly turned 
back, especially as his son was so lonely. Besides, 
he said, he had been driven almost to distraction, 
not knowing whether he should find me here, at 
Peking, or in the south. 
. "When they were ready to go I gave them a big 



AFTERTHOUGHTS OF JAPANESE WAR 121 

bundle of presents of all kinds for their friends back 
at Ketuki, two hundred taels for the mission, and as 
much more to reimburse them for the outlay of the 
journey. This last he did not want to accept, saying 
that as he had funds sufficient to take him home he 
was fearful that the friends who had sent him might 
not like it. But I prevailed upon him to take the 
money. 

'II think this Christianity makes poor and lowly 
people bold and unafraid, for before Mr. Sato and 
his boy left he wanted to know if they might pray 
for me. I said they could, expecting that he meant 
when they got back home again; but he said some- 
thing to the little son, and they knelt right there at 
the door and said a prayer. I could not keep my 
heart from thumping in my bosom as I watched that 
poor man and his frightened little boy praying to 
God — the God that will deal with me and with 
them and all mankind — that I might be well of my 
injuries. 

" I was sorry to see them go. 

l^In this old yamen, which for twenty odd years 
was mine, strange scenes have been enacted, great 
councils held, and midnight conferences affecting 
the whole world have taken place. I have received 
royalties and dukes, ambassadors, ministers, mur- 
derers, robbers, and beggars. Men have been sen- 
tenced to death from here, others have been made 
glad with leases of lands, railroad contracts, or the 
gift of public office. But during each and every oc- 



122 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

currence, whatever its nature, I have been complete 
master of my house and myself — until an hour ago. 
Then it was that for the first time did I believe the 
favour was being conferred upon me." 

Li was not "master" of the yamen at this writing, 
simply making it his headquarters during his stay 
in Tientsin. 

" Poor, good Mr. Sato, all the way from Japan to 
offer a Christian prayer for the 'heathen' old Vice- 
roy! I did not know that any one outside my own 
family cared enough about me for such a thing. 

"I do not love the Japanese, but perhaps Chris- 
tianity would help them!" 



CHAPTER VIII 



.»-A 



A COUP D ETAT ON THE HORIZON 

The first intimation in Li's memoirs that he antici- 
pates serious trouble for the country through the 
machinations of what he terms the ''reformers" and 
"reactionaries" occurs in the following lines, which, 
though accompanied by indication neither of place 
nor date, were probably written at Nanking in early 
May of 1898, because treating in the first part of 
the death of Prince Kung, which occurred on May 
3 of that year : — 

"Not in many months have I heard news that is 
so disheartening as that which came yesterday and 
is confirmed to-day. All night long I had repeated 
petitions to our ancestors that it might not be true; 
but Heaven sent for Prince Kung, my old and tried 
friend, who has been a fighter in the political and 
other arenas for nearly forty years, and who in 
influence during all that time has been as a water 
level for rash and hasty ones in the Government. 

"The Prince has been a true patriot, and the 
country will miss him. If he had died ten years ago, 
or even just following the Japanese troubles, the 
blow to order and moderation would not have been 
so severe ; but his going now, to be a guest on High, 
when China needs all the balance she can secure, 
when a ferment like the very yeast of hell is working 



124 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

in every part of the body politic, and when a lot 
of crazy-brained zealots and bigots have the ear of 
the Throne, if not the arm, his strong mind and fear- 
less voice is needed at Peking. 

" It would seem that a great many people do not 
imagine they are doing things at all unless they are 
going to extremes. From the cold of the Calgan 
snows they rush to the heats of India or the other 
way about. It is either murder with them or a 
sickening honey kindness. They want to yell at the 
top of their voices from a temple pagoda, or go down 
to a deep well and whisper at the bottom. Some 
brains are so constituted, or mixed, that if a thing 
does not appear white to their mental vision it is 
black, if it is n't yellow it is green, if not red it is 
blue. They take no bath at all, or they scrub their 
bodies until no skin is left. They will eat like hogs 
and just so often, or they go fasting, and scorn a 
chicken's tongue or a thin cracker. 

"It is just so with too many of our public men. 
They are like acrobats that jump from one side of 
the stage to another, just to let people see that it can 
be done. 

"Oh, but Prince Kung was not one of these, and 
it grieves me more than I like to confess that he has 
been removed by the gods from the place in life he 
so well filled, and wherein at present he is so direly 
needed. If I could bring him back I would turn over, 
for the nation's sake, more than one half of what I 
own; even though Kung himself never helped me 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 125 

to accumulate a dollar, but rather put himself in my 
way two or three times. 

''But, after all, what is wealth? My noble and 
severe parent had it in goodly quantity, but it can- 
not be said that it made him happy. He was far 
from being a happy man. I suppose that when he 
was the husband of one wife he thought he would be 
happy with two; but when the second was there, it 
appeared his idea of happiness called for another. I 
am glad that it did — but this has nothing to do 
with the argument — for that third and lesser wife 
was my own good and mild mother, who scolded 
only when it was absolutely necessary, and who 
raised a son to my father who has been able by his 
own exertions to lift himself above all the other 
children, and at the same time 'put rice in their 
pockets and hams over their shoulders' [i.e., to assist 
to wealth and office]. 

'-'And so it is with many people. I remember 
when I was a youth at Lou-Chow that riches and 
promotions seemed as very gifts of the Celestial 
Regions. But I have found that neither great wealth 
nor distinguished decorations, nor both put together, 
will guarantee a man against unrest of mind or 
turmoil of soul. How great and honourable is the 
Peacock's Feather of the Throne, yet how much 
easier rests the head on goose feathers! 

'^Therefore would I give about all I possess In 
worldly goods if Prince Kung could be spared to 
China another year or two. I am getting old, almost 



126 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

beyond the years of strength, and I fear that unless 
supported strongly I cannot withstand a long battle 
against the hurly-burly, hit-or-miss crowd, able to 
see little beyond its own compounds. 

"Prince Kung and myself, in the French crisis of 
1 88 1, stood together, shoulder to shoulder, voice to 
voice ; and from that day to the present — this is 
sad to think that he is silenced — we have laboured 
for the safety of our country, and have saved her 
from being sliced like a watermelon. 

"Reformers! reformers! — idiots and liars, and 
enemies of their country, I call them! 

"Under the guise of reform, they, led by one who 
is close to the Emperor, would turn things topsy- 
turvy in a month, and build a nation over again. 
K'ang Yuwei is a good man in himself, and deserves 
his doctorate of letters — I admire his writings and 
his speech very much — but he does not seem to 
realise that in advocating wholesale reforms, even 
though he do so with the best of motives, he is 
simply affording a different class of ' reformers ' — 
crazy, hunchbacked barbarians — opportunity to 
carry on this propaganda against the foreigners. 
K'ang Yuwei, because of his learning, his brilliancy, 
and his earnestness, has the Emperor under his 
thumb, and he is holding him there until the other 
'reformers* (who laugh over their moon shoulders 
at both) have the fanatics aroused to do injury to 
the foreigners, and thereby bring upon our heads 
the maledictions of the Powers." . 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 127 

''May 30, 1898. — I am too ill to go to Peking, 
though I feel that what weight I may exert to offset 
K'ang Yuwei's influence at Court is sorely needed. 
It was regrettable that I could not attend the funeral 
of dear Prince Kung." 

"June 6. — My health is somewhat better, but 
I fear the country is becoming ill." 

''June 7. — ^^ To-day, even in the sadness of my 
soul, I have attended to much correspondence. I 
took occasion to write K'ang Yuwei, warning him 
that he was leading the Emperor too rapidly through 
forests neither of them had traversed before. My 
letter will anger them, and I shall receive, if any- 
thing, a most spirited retort from the Emperor's 
tutor. Nevertheless, I would write just such a letter 
every day, and knock, if vainly, for admittance to 
the audience room, if I thought the mad trend of 
affairs could be stayed." 

"June 8. — : The Emperor, led on by a few first 
notions of reform, would turn water into rice, wine 
and sand into fine meal. K'ang, with the best of 
intentions, appears to have lost his balance, and of 
course the Emperor is unbalanced with him. They 
probably do not realise that their own childlike 
upsetting of things simply gives a cover under which 
the anti-foreign agitators may continue their suicidal 
propaganda. Only to-day I received by a courier, 



128 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

without knowing who sent it, or why it should have 
been sent to me above all others, a vermilion placard 
which reads: 'The Throne is instituting wholesale 
reforms. Let all patriots band together that the 
foreign devils may be driven out of the country, 
so that the people of the kingdom may enjoy the 
gracious and beneficial reforms the Emperor may 
provide.' 

"I hear that Mong of the Board of Rites has 
rashly attempted to memorialise the Throne against 
some of the Board and one or two of the Censors. 
Poor fool, he is taking the Emperor at his word, 
and thinks that he is already in the latter' s confi- 
dence." 

^^ June 17. — I am leaving for Peking to-night, 
determined to see Tze Hsi herself, and present the 
situation to her in the plainest manner, just as I 
see it." 

" Tientsin [without date]. — It was told me since 
my arrival here — people do not care what they say 
to a man when he is ill — that ' all the patriots ' 
are regarding me as a reactionary, while I formerly 
posed as a reformer. 

"If these very forward and intelligent persons 
would define the words as I do they would find that 
they have been changed about. I think that it is 
possible for me to say with truth and pride that for 
twenty-five years I have been the champion of true 
reform throughout the empire; but I do not believe 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 129 

in tearing down one's house in order to build a new 
one which is to have a gable which the other lacked. 
I think if a man wants a gable or another window or 
a door to his yamen, he should go right ahead and 
make the alterations; but a man is insane who will 
tear down his entire length of wall in order to change 
the place of entrance to his yard. Why not kill all 
of your flock of turkeys because one of them has a 
limpy foot? 

^' K'ang proposes to cure all the ills of the nation 
by one great dose of reform medicine. He would 
have the Emperor building his own fires, and the 
ladies of the household washing their own linen. He 
thinks the Board of Mines and Railways will in a 
week or a month solve problems, and do away with 
prejudices that have occupied the attention of this 
country for two thousand years. He believes that 
every man with a grievance should have the right to 
memorialise the Throne, and tell his difficulties into 
ears that are already burdened with such things. 

"K'ang Yuwei, you are an excellent educator, 
your writings are elegant, and better speech than 
yours is not heard in all the Middle Kingdom, nor 
beyond; but you are making an ass of the young 
Emperor, and it is only a question of time when Tze 
Hsi will make a bigger ass of you ! . . . I am sorry 
that this is so, for your sake ; but I am more sorrowful 
still for the sake of the country, and within the next 
few hours I am going to speak these words to your 
face: — 



130 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"'You are a reformer; yes, a reformer who will 
make a back handspring into a worse mess than you 
are trying now to get out of. I would not say these 
words to the Emperor — he *s too inexperienced to 
know that they are true, and too light-headed to 
believe them if he knew. Nor will I speak against 
you to the Dowager Empress. But if I were the ruler 
of China to-day I would send you back to teach a 
lot of undergraduates their letters, or I would part 
your head from your shoulders! 

'"Remember, Honourable K'ang, chief tutor to 
His Majesty, I give you credit for a patriotic heart 
at the same time that I tell you your brain is a 
muddy mill-pond called reform, in which older and 
stronger men cannot see a decent fish. You love 
your country, but you would make a fool of her; just 
as the lovesick rustic, rattle-brained over his new 
toy, would make her forever ashamed by embracing 
her in the market-place.' 

"Being called to the palace now for consultation, 
I shall make an effort, according to my duty as I 
see it, to put a damper upon some of these alleged 
'reforms.' 

"A reform that means going backward is laugh- 
able when it is not tragic. 

"A reform that tears everything down before 
attempting to build up is a hurricane. 

"A reform that assumes that the whole world 
went bad in a week, and that it can be made good 
in a day, is a senseless thing. ^ 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 131 

"I hate a professional reformer as I hate a nag- 
ging woman ; each has the idea that the other party 
was not endowed with even a place for brains, to say- 
nothing of possessing any mentality. 

"But in my very soul I feel that the wild new- 
doings of the Emperor have given tremendous 
encouragement to the anti-foreign sentiment; and 
that once again, but without the strong power for 
suppression which was mine in the days of 1870 and 
onward, when I put an end to the killings and wrong- 
doings in Pe-chili, I am called upon to do my utmost 
in the cause of internal order, that the excesses of the 
country may not bring the outside Governments 
within our gates again." 

*'At the house of the late Prince Kung. July 9. 
Hour of the Dog. — Since my last arrival at the 
capital, I have scarcely put in an hour alone. In 
truth no period of my life, of equal length of time, 
has been so filled with work that should have accom- 
plished much but which, I fear, really amounts to 
so little. It is too bad I am not an ignorant man 
owning a single dromedary. Then I would crawl 
close to my beast on the roadside, or in his stable, 
and sleep in peace until morning; but youthful 
ambitions and forty years of unceasing labours have 
brought me an old age of turmoil and upheaval, and 
I shall not shirk my responsibilities, even though the 
tired blood be spilled upon the ground through the 
great artery of my neck!", 



132 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"Home Place, July ii. — For more than two 
hours after midnight I was at the Empress Dow- 
ager's own palace, and for more than one-half of 
that time I was in secret audience with that woman 
who has often said that twenty minutes was suffi- 
cient time for her in which to give orders and answers 
to the Council, the Cabinet, and the Foreign Office 
combined. 

"It was a bad omen that the Dowager held in her 
hand a communication from Kang-i, and that Tung 
Fuh-sing had been in audience with Her Majesty 
thrice during the day. Fuh-sing, too, claims to be a 
'reformer,' but his idea is to 'reform' the finances, 
'reform' the Emperor, and 'reform' the Christians. 
He has Kang-i with him, or rather is with Kang-i, 
and together their influence over Tze Hsi is indeed 
deplorable — quite as bad, except in a different 
direction and for different ends as K'ang's crazy 
dominance of His Majesty. Yet one begets the other, 
for the more foolish the Emperor becomes under the 
tutorship of K'ang — curse his snake hide, why does 
he not teach only things of which he is competent? 
— the more rabid becomes Her Majesty under the 
evil eye of Kang-i, Tung, and Prince Tuan. If she 
would but listen to the wise counsels of Prince Ching 
and Jung-lu, her manner toward all the world would 
soften, and her ending years would be those of peace 
and comfort such as she fully deserves. 

"I believe with the flight of time her ambition 
grows, and she hopes to live on for ever. Poor 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 133 

Empress ! — she does not understand that these 
constant bickerings, midnight counsels, and harsh 
words are making her life as bitter as aloe juice and 
iron mixed with rain water. 

"To me Her Majesty put the question direct, as 
to where I should be found in the event of a great 
trouble. 

"'Just as always, Your Illustrious Majesty,' I 
replied. 

"'And where is that?' she questioned further. 

'"A million pardons, but does Your Majesty need 
an answer to that question?' 

"She was apparently impatient with my seem- 
ingly evasive answer, but she did not look angrily 
upon me as is her custom when offended ever so 
slightly. 

"'But I wish to know!' she commanded. 

"Then I told her that I should be found always 
with her and China, just as I had been all my days. 

" * My days. Your Majesty,' I said, ' are not many; 
but such as they are, you may count upon your old 
Grand Secretary.* 

"'In any event?' she persisted. 

"'In any and all events,' I answered. 

"Then she indicated that the present audience 
was at an end, but as I had remained about the 
palace until two o'clock in the morning, and as 
I hoped she would not find it necessary to summon 
me again to-morrow night, which she had intimated 
might be the case, I did not immediately retire; but 



134 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

urged that if there was a premonition of trouble in 
her mind, and if she reposed in me the trust I hoped 
and believed she did, would it not please her to put 
me at greater ease regarding her plans? J 

"She had been so cordial and amiable in com- 
parison to her ordinary wont that I did not believe 
my further query would offend her, but in an instant 
she was alive with wrath and angry words, and I 
immediately withdrew. 

"I have seen women something like her before, 
but they were in my house, and it was not necessary 
for me to get down on my knees to them." 

"August [no date]. — If my counsel amounts to 
anything in the affairs of this nation, I am unable to 
see in which direction or quarter, for I find myself 
utterly opposed to the desires and policies of either 
one of the factions that seem bound to bring about 
a great social upheaval, if nothing more. 

"The Emperor — less of a monarch than my 
youngest son — is inaccessible to friend or foe, and 
I am beginning to feel that his end is near. But 
really I should have no pity; nor have I, as a matter 
of fact; for, under the spell of those feather-minded 
ones about him, he refused to listen, even listen, to 
certain words of wisdom I would have uttered. With 
his eyes wide open like a frightened feline, he still 
was so blind to all truth and all manifestations of 
events that the Palace of Heaven itself would be 
but a mere speck upon his vision. 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 135 

"The One-Thought K'ang has gone. What a pity 
a year ago did not see him back with his classes!" 

[Without date.] — "It is as I thought regarding 
K'ang. I did not believe he had even sufficient 
reason or wisdom to perceive the avalanche that he 
was bringing about his own head with the great 
reform wind he himself stirred up. He is gone from 
Peking, and I trust he has not failed to perform that 
act which would fittingly crown his work of the past 
few years. I have no personal animosity toward 
Yuwei, nor his memory; but I hope he has taken 
himself to other spheres, where he may be of some 
use to K'ang and those about him. I wish his mem- 
ory well, and if I knew for certain he was dead I 
would make an offering this very hour." 

[Without date.] — " Personally and with my own 
hand — for Fen-lo is no longer with me, and I have 
found few others to have any confidence in — I have 
sent brief letters to my friends in the foreign lega- 
tions, telling them of the events which they may soon 
expect. If some of those who always enjoy picking 
at the bones of the old man knew this, they would 
be avowing that great national secrets were being 
divulged to the foreign devils. 

"I know affairs are going to be bad again, and 
perhaps there will be a season of massacre and burn- 
ing. But what can I do? I have exhausted every 
reasonable resource in speech and writing, and 



136 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

through the influence of such friends of mine as still 
may have an opportunity for a hearing at Court; but 
I fear it is all unavailing. 

** Jung-lusent me a lengthy communication to-day. 
He does not say as much, but I am sure from the 
tone of his splendid letter that he feels that a reac- 
tionary movement of the most momentous kind is 
contemplated by Her Majesty. Jung-lu knows. 

"He asks me to send word to my friends in the 
different Governments not to be alarmed at any 
event that may follow in the next five or six weeks. 
This is just what I have already done. We do not 
want the Powers to think that in any emergency 
we have been taken by surprise, or that widespread 
outrages upon native Christians or missionaries will 
necessarily follow. It is true that we fear these 
very things; but the coming of foreign troops would 
only increase the tension at this time, and perhaps 
be the very means of precipitating a vast outbreak. 

"Her Majesty itches for the name of being Ruler. 
She is not satisfied with the amount of glory that 
has been and is hers, and her mind has been very 
fully poisoned of late against all things foreign or 
Christian. The best that we can do — we who are 
still friends of hers (though some of us are held at a 
great distance) — is to keep our peace as best we 
may, and not too strongly oppose the radical hot- 
heads who are apparently completely in the ascend- 
ancy at the palace. Her Majesty would not permit 
a physical injury to be done even to the end of one 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 137 

of my toe-nails, though I might openly oppose her 
in the scheme she has on foot; but, for the sake of 
the greater good in the end, I must appear to be in 
accord. What does it avail a man to whistle in the 
teeth of a gale, or cast a jug of water against a tidal 
wave? 

"Apparently, for once in my life, I am forgotten 
by everybody. I wish that I might return the 
compliment." 

With a mere line, "She is once again in name — 
as she has been ever in fact — the Ruler," Viceroy 
Li, on 24th September, dismisses the coup d'etat of 
the 20th, by which Tze Hsi assumed again the full 
title and responsibility for the conduct of the affairs 
of the State. 

At one side of the single column of written char- 
acters, which announced so briefly the startling 
change in Government, is the official edict, cut from 
the "Peking Gazette," the organ of the Court, of 
2 1st September, and which in its more important 
part, somewhat condensed, is as follows : — 

"Our empire is now labouring under certain great 
and important stresses, and steady and wise guid- 
ance is needed in all branches of the public service. 
We ourselves have laboured diligently, night and 
day, to perform our duties, but in spite of all OUR 
anxious energy and care we are in constant fear lest 
delay should be the undoing of the country. We 
now respectfully recall the fact that Her Imperial 



138 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Majesty the Empress Dowager has on two occa- 
sions, since the beginning of the reign of H.M. 
T'ung-Chih, performed the functions of Regent, and 
that in her administrations of the Government she 
displayed complete and admirable qualities of per- 
fection which enabled her successfully to cope with 
every difficulty that arose. 

"Recollecting the serious burden of the respon- 
sibility WE owe to OUR ancestors and to the Nation, 
WE have repeatedly besought Her Majesty to con- 
descend once more to administer the Government. 
Now she has graciously honoured us by granting 
OUR prayer, a blessing, a heaven-sent blessing, for 
all OUR subjects. 

"From this day forth Her Majesty will transact 
the business of the Government in the Side Hall of 
the Palace, and on the day after to-morrow we our- 
selves at the head of our Princes and Ministers shall 
perform obeisance before her in the Hall of Diligent 
Government. 

"The Yamens concerned shall respectfully and 
with despatch make all such arrangements as are 
necessary to this ceremonial. 

"The words of the Emperor. 

"Given this Day.'^ 

(Without date.) — "I am in fear and trembling 
for what may happen in Peking and throughout the 
north. The old-style 'reformer' is gone, and the 
newer-style ' reformer ' is here ! 



A COUP D'ETAT ON THE HORIZON 139 

"There are whispered threats in all the depart- 
ments of Government against the Christians, and 
I already hear rumours of disturbances in the vicin- 
ity of Paoting-fu. If the evil influences about Her 
Majesty are allowed to go unchecked, and political 
insanity reigns within the Forbidden City, I see only 
a few short months of national tranquillity. 

"My messages of preparation have been well 
received by the legations, and five of them, those 
of England, Russia, Germany, France, and Japan, 
have sent notes of thanks. Minister Conger called 
in person, and assured me that my words, which he 
knows were sent to all, are reassuring." 

"Tientsin, October 9. — A courier arriving from 
the capital this morning brings me many communi- 
cations of great interest. Jung-lu writes of the scene 
in the palace when the wretched Kuang Su was 
made to kneel and acknowledge that he was nothing 
at all. Jung-lu says that Her Majesty was a veri- 
table lioness at the ceremonies of obeisance, and 
treated the young Emperor worse than she has 
often treated unruly eunuchs. 

"According to what he writes, — and he declares 
it to be true, — the Empress Dowager threatened 
Kuang Su with the loss of his life if he did not read- 
ily consent to living with the Empress Consort [Tze 
Hsi's niece and spy], and the Emperor said he would 
live with her and love her. What an outrage, when 
personally I know he hates the sight of her! 



140 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"And then, when Chen Fei, whom the poor 
Emperor has loved ... as any young man desires 
to love his true wife, made a plea for him to Her 
Majesty, the latter ordered her to be carried from 
the room and cast into a lone barred chamber of one 
of the administration palaces. This I regard as very 
wrong. It is not enough for him to be humiliated 
and degraded, even before the eyes of miserable 
eunuchs and servers, but the only comfort of his 
domestic life is snatched from him. Of course 
Jung-lu has no sympathy with the deposed monarch, 
neither has Yuan Shih-k'ai ; but I am going to ask 
them as the greatest favour they can do me at the 
present time to prevail upon Tze Hsi to allow the 
Emperor to have Chen Fei with him in his prison, 
the Ocean Terrace." 

There is no record that Li Hung Chang ever wrote 
to the Empress Dowager or to Jung-lu or Yuan Shih- 
k'ai in behalf of Chen Fei, the favourite wife of the 
Emperor, she who was called, because of her beauty 
of form and clearness of complexion, the "Pearl 
Concubine." The unfortunate young woman was 
kept under close confinement for nearly two years, 
without again seeing Kuang Su, except in the pres- 
ence of the Empress Dowager; and she finally met 
death by being thrown down one of the wells of the 
Forbidden City, by Tze Hsi's orders, as the Court 
took its hurried flight upon the entrance into Peking 
of the allied forces in 1900. 



CHAPTER IX 

AT THE czar's CORONATION 

Returning to China in 1896, after his attendance 
as representative of his country at the coronation 
of the Russian Czar, Li Hung Chang, for the first 
time in his memoirs, speaks of his own selection 
by the Throne to go to St. Petersburg, though at an 
earHer date in the same year he has a single line 
referring to a Chinese ambassador at the ceremony : 

"Prince Chang Chi-chun has been chosen by the 
Sacred Car [Their Majesties] to represent them at 
the crowning of the Emperor of Russia." 

Though his diary indicates that he wrote a great 
deal on the journey from Peking to St. Petersburg, 
it contains not a single comment regarding his own 
appointment until he is again upon Chinese soil : — 

^■I am back once more and my spirit is pleased, 
for it best fits an old man to be at home among his 
kind. Old men — at least I think so — are not taken 
up with the sights of strange things or other lands, 
for they are, at such an age, preparing for the sights 
of the Place of Seven Springs, of which they have 
been told so much and know so little. 

"yl wonder why Russia asked the Throne to send 
me? It was most certainly a great compliment, and 
I have a right to feel flattered. But Chang Chi-chun 
was very worthy of the honour, and he informed me 



142 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

how well he was suited. Just then came word from 
the Russians that my coming would please them 
better. That was a blow to Chi-chun, and not very 
pleasing to the Empress, but I was told that from 
the very beginning I had been the choice of the 
Throne. 

",The Russians have for long tried to impress 
me with the idea that they hold me in the highest 
esteem. Perhaps they do. An5rway they may have 
their motives for all this. And I have no doubt they 
have; but I could tell them that my own country's 
interests are above all other considerations, and if I 
show favour to Russia in any matter, I do so because 
I believe China will be the ultimate gainer. I have 
tried in years past to make Russia realise that Korea 
could not be taken from us, but the standing of that 
country has been changed of late, and the Czar can 
hope to gain nothing by flattering me with honours 
or preferences. 

^' Still the coronation was a wonderful sight, even 
if I must say this after having been told that I was 
the centre of attraction; more so, the Czar told me, 
than he himself. But all this is Western flattery, 
for could I not see that the beautiful Czarina was the 
eye of the peacock? 

* ; When she spoke gracious things to me and lifted 
her cup of wine toward me, and smiled, I could well 
believe that that was a compliment to remember. 
When I told the Empress and her ladies upon my 
return about the beauties of the Russian Czar's wife, 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 143 

they all said she must be even as lovely as the pic- 
tures of her which I had brought to them as tokens 
from the Russian Court. 

"The Dowager asked me many trying questions 
about the Russian Court, which I tried as best I 
could to answer intelligently. She wanted to know if 
the Czarina was a political power, and if she had 
many eunuchs about her; but I answered that the 
Czarina was raising a family of her own, and even 
giving her breasts to her children; and that eunuchs 
were unknown in Russia. 

"She said she wished I had learned how the 
Russian Empress had kept her fertility. But I told 
her that the Russian Empress was not at all old 
(only half my own age), and a very careful woman. 

"I did not intend to offend Her Majesty in any 
way, but she told me that she would question me about 
Russia at some later time, and announced that she 
must speak with her ladies. This was Her Majesty's 
way of telling me the audience was at an end." 

"21st Day of the 12th Moon. I have received 
notification that I am to forfeit one year's pay for 
a breach of ceremony at the palace. This is a small 
matter, the fine, but I should be glad to know in 
what respect I offended Tze Hsi." 

"215^ Day of the 12th Moon. Later. — Messengers 
from the Throne have just arrived bringing a copy 
of the edict conferring upon me the Order of the 



144 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Golden Dragon. The original edict was written, says 
the copy, by Tze Hsi herself. I am inclined to think 
my breach of Court etiquette was not serious to her 
private mind, although her official mind fined me 
37,000 taels for it! 

"The Order of the Golden Dragon! I am truly 
well pleased, although I had expected it before I 
went on the long journey to the Capital of Russia. 

"If I was not a plain man I should quite think I 
was a member of the Imperial family, for the Golden 
Dragon is conferred (except in extraordinary cases) 
only upon those of the Blood. Perhaps Her Majesty 
conferred it upon me so I could not 'offend' in her 
presence again, for wearing the Golden Dragon I am 
privileged to kneel or not as I please. But I shall 
always be attentive to matters of ceremony and 
regard to those above me, just as I expect like evi- 
dences of respect from those who are not upon an 
equality with me." 

A few days later the Viceroy writes : — 
^ " Liars are the worst people in all classes, I believe. 
While my friends are rejoicing and sending me long 
letters of congratulation and many gifts, my ene- 
mies are saying that the Order of the Golden 
Dragon was conferred by Tze Hsi upon me only to 
please Russia, while the fact that I have been made 
to forfeit a year's pay proves conclusively that I 
deeply offended the Throne in the matter of eti- 
quette. Tseng [Li's secretary] tells me that he has 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 145 

been approached by a number of very common 
people, and asked if it is true that I told the Empress 
that our imperial princesses would have more and 
better children if they followed the Czarina's 
example. What lies! What vicious, monkey-faced 
lies ! Any one with sense would know that even if I 
dared I never would address such language to Her 
Majesty or the ladies of the Blood. I interest myself 
not at all in the inner doings of the Court, for it 
is enough that any man keep his own household in 
order. 

"It is not so much that the lies have been told 
about me or my sayings. No ; for forty years I have 
been forced to listen to such things; but it is that the 
low and ignorant, hearing such words, and knowing 
that the loss of a year's pay was exacted of me, will 
really believe I uttered such infamies. And, believ- 
ing I uttered them, they will think they are true. 
Then there will be more scandal and talk, which is 
all unnecessary; for I said not one word which might, 
seen either through a mountain gap-way or the eye 
of a needle, reflect at all upon the ladies of the Court.' 
I did praise the Russian Czarina, but I dispraised 
no one else." 

Writing in his diary at St. Petersburg, the Grand 
Ambassador says among other things : — 

V It has been urged upon me to return to China 
by way of Constantinople and the Suez Canal, but 
I cannot agree to this plan. Now that I have trav- 



146 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

ersed all this distance, I want to go to Germany 
and France, then to England and the United States. 
There are wonders for me to lay eyes upon in all 
these great countries; and, besides that, there are 
official duties to be carried out. I am told here that 
I shall not be received very well in England ; but it 
is certain they will not harm me there, nor shall I do 
them any injury. If the house is cold and the table 
not set, I need not remain, for the road is long, and 
the traveller who has money can turn up his nose 
at town constables. 

"To-night I am to attend another banquet given 
by the Czar, which I hope will not continue as long 
as the one of last night. It is true they prepare foods 
especially for me, but they do not taste like the foods 
at home, or those of our own cooks which we have 
along. The tea, however, is the best — I brought it 
myself as a present to the Czar and Czarina, and Tu 
[his chef] tells them how to make it! " 

Shortly before leaving Russia for the German 
capital, the Ambassador wrote: — 

/* On Monday we shall leave the capital of the Czar 
and travel toward the land of the Germans. They 
tell me it is many hours' ride from here to the frontier 
on the west, and that if we went south it would be 
three times as far. Going north, the Czar's dominions 
reach to the top of the earth, where mountains and 
lakes of ice are seen forever, through all the moons. 

"Often and often I had studied over the maps 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 147 

of the countries of the world, and I knew, of course, 
that Russia was a far-reaching empire; but I had to 
travel to know fully how immense and solid it is. 
There are vast plains and tremendous mountains, 
but there are no seas or oceans coming in between, 
and I cannot help thinking how much more solid 
and substantial this empire must be than the British 
Empire, with its islands and possessions scattered 
like fowl over a large barnyard. China is much like 
Russia in this respect, too, and it is sad that our 
nation has not yet learned how to make all parts of 
it stand together as one against the outsider. There 
is this difference between China and Russia. Many 
of the nations agree to harass China, but not any of 
them will bother Russia. If Russia did not want to 
control us in all our home affairs, what a strong 
alliance would be possible between us! 

1 / 

'-' Sunday night. -M All the party attended a long 
church service this afternoon, and when it came time 
for my final audience with the Czar I was very fa- 
tigued. Dr. Morniff, the household physician, who 
has been attached to our party here by courtesy of 
the Government, gave me a hypodermic of some- 
thing, and a large bottle of white wine, so that when 
we reached the castle I was feeling like a boy. I told 
His Majesty that the long service and the smoke of 
the incense nearly sickened me, at which he laughed 
heartily, showing his fine teeth, and said I was about 
the healthiest-looking man about. 



148 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

'"When are Your Majesties coming to China?' I 
asked him. 

"Again he laughed, and said that maybe sometime 
he would like to arrange for his wife to meet the 
Dowager Empress and the ladies of the latter's 
Court somewhere in the Far East. 
<j::'! Nicholas is himself not a very healthy man, I 
think. I believe he stays indoors too much, or that 
worry about his life keeps him pale and listless. He 
is a small man to rule a great empire; though Na- 
poleon, they tell me, was even smaller in stature. 
But there are many big men in this capital. The 
Czar is surrounded by them; and his soldiers, espe- 
cially those regiments which are of his household, 
are a magnificent lot of men. I believe the Japa- 
nese soldiers would run fast from these regiments. 

"I have learned that we start early to-morrow 
morning. This is not to my taste. I should much 
prefer to begin the journey now, and sleep on the 
train going. To arise so early in the morning seems 
to be a foolish Western practice; foolish especially 
among men of state, who could so much better 
transact their affairs at night when all is quiet and 
the mind is most alert. 

"But from what I can learn, these statesmen and 
lawgivers look for their pleasures at night; going to 
banquets, theatres, and fancy parties; often staying 
until the light of dawn comes on again. To this I 
attribute much of the intrigue that is known to all 
these courts. The women cannot enter the council 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 149 

chambers nor make speeches in the parliaments, but 
they work their wiles at the parties and operas." 

"On the train, Monday. — This train is travelling 
at a much slower pace than any of those before. 
I asked why, and was told that the Government 
would not run any risks when so many big foreign 
officials were aboard. 

"Soldiers are everywhere along the line, and when- 
ever the train stops the common people are kept at 
a distance. 

'' It is bad enough to be an official in China, and 
put up with lies, abuse, and misrepresentation; but 
here in Russia they kill their big officials whenever 
they can. I am told that a great secret band exists 
all over the empire, and that the members thereof 
find their chief occupation and 'amusement* in the 
killing of men of state and others in high position. 

" I do not think I should like to exchange positions 
with the Czar, even to have the fine Czarina as wife 
and my choice of the rarest tea ! Especially in these 
later years I have had no fear of my life being taken, 
unless it would be by some crazy fanatic like the 
fellow who shot me in the eye at Shimonoseki. Sev- 
eral times in Hankow, in the days of my first vice- 
royalty, low fellows sought to take my life, and once 
in Tientsin [when Li was Viceroy of Chihli] a low 
fellow came into my courtyard and told the banner 
captain in charge that he intended taking my life. 
He had a long piece of wire, and said he was going 



150 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

to hang me to my own gateposts. I had to have his 
head cut off before he would stop talking." 

^^ Hearing the German frontier. Hour of the Sheep. 
P'lo has just finished shaving my head, and I feel 
fine. I think I should be insane if I wore all the hair 
some of these Russians do. Many of my people have 
chaffed me about my beard, but I wish they could see 
the hairy faces of the St. Petersburg Court. They 
are 'hairy devils' in truth! 

"My mother said that as a little baby I had 
evidences of a strong beard later in life. She averred 
that it was a sign that I should be a great man in my 
country, and many times since affairs have gone so 
well with me has she asked : ' Was not my prophecy 
correct?' Always I have been compelled to answer 
her that I did not know, but if she thought I was a 
great man I was. 

'-ISo Napoleon marched all this distance from 
France in the midst of winter ! He was either a very 
brave and determined man or a very foolish one, for 
even now, with the best of accommodations and 
soldiers to guard us instead of fight us, it is a long 
and tiresome journey. Some of the country is very 
beautiful, but there are hundreds of miles that are 
dreary wastes, and fit only for sheep and goats and 
even wild wolves. There are always wolves where 
there are sheep. It is the same in the life of man and 
the lives of nations. 

yl do not want to be thought of as a wolf by my 



AT TKE CZAR'S CORONATION 151 

fellow-men. But I have been called worse names, 
even to 'foreign devil,' which is ridiculous ! Gordon 
said once that he knew it was my ambition to over- 
throw the Monarchy and make myself Emperor of 
the whole Middle Kingdom. This thought comes to 
me now when I am in the country Napoleon wanted 
to rule. Gordon was a good friend in time of need, 
but I was a still greater friend to him, and he could 
have done nothing but for my money and influence 
in keeping the ' Ever Victorious Army ' together. I 
had no ambition ever to go as Emperor to the 
Northern Capital [Peking]. 

"The train is bustling with life and excitement 
now, for we are coming to the frontier. There are 
many soldiers, and the people afar off are looking at 
the train. We shall meet the Germans soon, as I can 
tell from the booming of the cannon and the music 
of bands. 

" I wish the band music would stop, and not blare 
in my ears so near by. I wonder if I shall meet Herr 
Krupp?" 

Writing in his diary a few days later, while the 
guest of the German Government, Li Hung Chang 
refers at considerable length once more to General 
** Chinese" Gordon, the English Commander of the 
"Ever Victorious Army," which Chang employed 
so successfully in putting down the Taiping Rebellion 
in 1863. 
/'\The English will want to know just what caused 



152 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

the trouble between General Gordon and myself, 
and I shall have to tell them that I was not at all 
jealous of him, as has been charged so many times. 
Why should I be? He was directly under my orders, 
and nothing pleased me better than to see him win 
so many battles with the 'Ever Victorious Army,' 
and drive the Wangs [leaders of the Taipings] into 
Suchau. Gordon was not over-anxious for the end 
of the rebellion, and I knew that he had secretly 
memorialised the Throne to make him general-in- 
chief of all the armies of China, including those of the 
different viceroys. He did not know that no person 
had power to grant him such unlimited authority, 
and his foreign pride made him think he was above 
myself in power. He made mistakes, and many 
of them; but I overlooked them all, thinking only 
of the great good he had rendered the country. 

"His final mistake, however, I could not overlook, 
and my memorial to the Throne was the cause of 
his dismissal forever from the service of China. 

''This grievous mistake of his was the accusation 
that I had treacherously caused the murder of the 
Wangs upon my own barge. The very truth of this 
matter is here written for the second time; the first 
time was in my report to the Grand Council at the 
Northern Capital, made in the year 1866, just before 
I myself took the field against the Shantung rebels. 

" Mow Wang told the other Wangs at Suchau that 
he would not surrender to the Imperial forces but 
would continue fighting for ten years. He was killed 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 153 

upon this statement, and Chung Wang sent word to 
me that he intended to surrender. I immediately 
informed my own lieutenant, General Ching; and 
Chung Wang and eight other generals, with their 
men, surrendered. We were most friendly disposed 
when the fighting was all over, and it was myself who 
proposed that we have a feast in celebration. To this 
Chung Wang, Lar Wang, and General Ching quickly 
assented; and soon the banquet was set on board 
my private boat. 

''In the meantime. General Gordon, who thought 
he had not been accorded full glory for the complete 
surrender of the Taipings, moved the * Ever Victori- 
ous Army ' away from Suchau to its old headquarters 
at Quinsan. This was against my orders, and also 
against the counsel of General Chang; but Gordon 
claimed there was a large amount of pay due him 
and his men. This was true, but it was also true that 
he had not been promised, and should not have 
expected, pay until the Suchau army had surren- 
dered. He was feeling ill-disposed, and was waiting 
for replies to his memorials sent to the Throne. 
His last memorial, as I knew through See Lund 
H'en, who wrote it, was very much against me. 

"When the banquet was set and we were in the 
midst of our joyousness, report was brought me that 
two large boats had pulled out from the shore and 
were coming directly to my boat. I went to the near 
side and looked. It was about the hour of the cock 
[7 P.M.], and I could not discern plainly, but it 



154 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

seemed to me as if Gordon himself captained one of 
the boats. I went back to the feast and told the 
Wangs I believed Gordon was coming. Ching turned 
very white and whispered to me that he was afraid 
— of what, he did not say; but before we, Ching, 
Lar Wang, and myself, had time to reach that end 
of the boat which was pointed to the shore. Imperial 
officers and soldiers clambered aboard from both 
sides and began cutting every one they met. They 
killed Lar Wang by my side, and one fellow stabbed 
General Ching, but only slightly. An officer was 
coming toward me with his sword, but he fell to his 
knees when I raised my hand. 

"Ching, Lu'Klen, Tu-Kiang, General Tung, and 
myself all succeeded in getting into one of the soldier 
boats and the pole-man pushed us to the shore. 
Immediately I issued orders to all the troops in the 
city to make an attempt to capture those of the 
attacking party ; but the feeling against the Wangs 
was so strong that I think but little attempt was 
made to carry out my orders. That night I learned 
that all the members of the banqueting party remain- 
ing aboard were decapitated and their bodies thrown 
into the river. Among these were a deep personal 
friend whom I loved very much, and a young 
nephew of mine from Wu-Sang. 

"I will have Fong Lee [his English secretary] 
make a translation of this, and a number of copies; 
and if I am asked anything about this in England 
this true statement will be the answer." 



AT THE CZAR'S CORONATION 155 

Evidently the Viceroy was not questioned regard- 
ing the Wang massacre by his English entertainers, 
for this line appears among his notes made two weeks 
later on board the Atlantic liner: — 

"Only Gladstone mentioned Gordon to me in 
England. I guess most people have forgotten him." 



CHAPTER X 

MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 

During the first five days of his stay in Germany 
the Viceroy did not write a line in his diary, though 
he does not fail to cover his experiences there pretty 
thoroughly when he again "takes pen in hand"; 
or rather, quill, for he was most proficient in the use 
of the latter, seldom, if ever, in his official or more 
important writings, using the stick or camel's-hair 
brush so commonly employed by his countrymen. 
^He writes at Essen: "While I am officially the 
guest of the German nation, I am personally the 
guest of Herr Krupp, whom I have for many years 
longed to see. I do not know which I had the greater 
desire to see, Prince Bismarck or Herr Krupp; but 
however that may be, I have seen them both, talked 
with them freely, and feel that, had no other attrac- 
tion or benefit been awaiting me in Germany, I 
have been well repaid. Each of these men seems 
to be filling the place he is best fitted to occupy: 
Krupp, in his quiet way, making big guns, and Bis- 
marck occupying a place where he can put them into 
use. For, while it is known that the Kaiser is the 
head and front of Germany, yet it is Bismarck who 
is the solid rock upon which any great trouble must 
fall. 

"I had a splendid visit with Prince Bismarck at 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 157 

his castle, day before yesterday. He made me drink 
some beer, which I did not like at all, but a taste for 
which he said I should acquire if I stayed long enough 
in Germany. I told him I did not expect to live 
many years longer, and that it would probably be 
impossible for me to acquire a liking for the national 
beverage. 

*!We smoked our pipes together and enjoyed a 
long visit, troubled only by those who translated 
for us and by the servants who brought pipes and 
drinkables. During a large part of the time we dis- 
cussed international policies, and finally came to the 
prospective influence of Germany in the Far East. 
, "lYou have seen but little of us in your part of 
the world,' he said, 'for Germany as a unit is only 
a new nation ; but the time will come when the Ger- 
man Empire will dominate Europe. England, with 
all her bluster and show, has a hundred weak points; 
and she knows that a conflict with a power nearly 
her equal will mean her undoing. I hate the boast- 
ing Englanders even though German blood rules 
from the throne.' 

"When, toward the end of our meeting, in fact as 
we were about to part, I told him that some people 
had paid me the high compliment of calling me the 
'Bismarck of the Far East,' the Prince tried to look 
serious as if studying my meaning. Then he smiled 
under his bushy eyebrows and whispered to Captain 
Ruffbach (who spoke the best Mandarin Chinese I 
ever heard a German use). ' Tell His Excellency that 



158 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

the French would not consider that a compHment at 
^\IV Of course I understood, and we shook hands 
over the agreement that the French did not love 
Bismarck. 

*[l found that the Prince could deliver a compli- 
ment as quickly as any one, for he immediately said 
after our handshake, 'And so they have called Your 
Excellency the Bismarck of the East, eh? Well, I 
want to tell you that I cannot ever hope to be termed 
the "Li Hung Chang of Europe!'" 

\" As I was coming to Essen from Berlin, we natu- 
rally spoke a good deal regarding Herr Krupp, 
who Bismarck said was an emperor in his own 
way, the 'Emperor of Essen.' 'Germany is not for 
war,' he said, 'but strong armament is as necessary 
to a nation as a club is to a policeman. The police- 
man does not carry his stick to use upon the heads of 
innocent people, but he has it in plain sight so that 
evilly inclined persons may know that he is always 
prepared for trouble. Let the policeman walk his 
beat carrying a feather or a wisp of hay and see how 
quickly the bullies will jump upon him and rob him 
of the little he possesses. 

"yAnd so with Essen. Herr Krupp has established 
a great industrial plant there and provided bread 
and beer for thousands. Even if not one of his guns 
was ever fired he would still be a great benefactor of 
his country. But as it is, he is still greater from the 
German point of view. He has won many victories 
for his country, victories that the public know 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 159 

nothing about. The noise of Essen to-day is the 
song of peace; to-morrow it may be the voice of a 
united Germany speaking through a thousand Essen 
mouths to an enemy.' 

"Captain Ruffbach accompanied me here by the 
request of Bismarck, and I am glad he did, for he 
seems to know about everything, and is able to tell 
what he knows. The captain was for many years 
employed at Peking and Canton in consular capaci- 
ties, and writes well in Chinese. I think I shall ask 
the Kaiser to send him back with me. 

"Herr Krupp presented me with a fine steel- 
framed painting of himself yesterday. I asked for 
it because of my great admiration for him. He said 
that Miiller had painted the picture for his wife 
(Madame Krupp), but that she was delighted to let 
me have it. Herr Krupp also made me a present of 
a complete miniature battery of artillery, of a good 
size for children to play with. In fact, he had them 
drawn into my room by six little school-girls all 
dressed in yellow and hauling the little cannons by 
yellow silk ribbons. One of the little girls thought 
it was real war, I imagine, for she was very much 
frightened and after a while began to cry. And she 
was the one that ' drove ' the others, too ; and prob- 
ably was captain of the battery. I could not help 
thinking that that was often the way, for I remem- 
ber t|iat once while fighting the Tongs in Senchi we 
had officers that were mere cowards, while the com- 
mon men would fight bravely. 



i6o MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"Herr and Madame Krupp, General Vonzberg, 
Count and Countess Gregg and others were present 
when the gift of the battery of artillery was made and 
accepted. I spoke in reply to Herr Krupp 's brief 
speech and Captain Ruffbach translated it excel- 
lently. But he overlooked my last sentence, and I 
called his attention to it. He grew very red in the 
face and it was evident that he was somewhat 
embarrassed, but I only repeated my statement, and 
he in turn gave it to the little company. Poor fellow, 
he thought it was going to offend the party! 

"But as soon as Ruffbach's words were out of his 
mouth, the whole company burst into laughter, and 
Herr Krupp actually slapped me upon the shoulder 
and acted like a merry brother. 

".'.You shall have one; yes, a real battery!' he said 
a couple of times. You see I had told him that while 
I appreciated highly his compliment to myself as 
the representative of the Chinese Throne and people, 
I believed his great gun-works would be made bet- 
ter known in Eastern Asia by a battery of big guns ! 

"And so this morning at the works six finely 
polished guns were paraded before me as the present 
of Herr Krupp to the Chinese Empire, a gift worth 
more than 108,000 taels! But I do not think he will 
lose by his generosity, for Lord Clung has instructed 
two of the German engineers here to select three 
other batteries of field-pieces and four ten-inch guns 
to be shipped at an early date to China. We shall 
buy German powder and shells here also." 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY i6i 

" Next day. Hour of the Drake. — This day I shall 
seclude myself from all callers, in order that I may 
devote myself to thoughts of my celestial mother, 
who died fourteen years ago this day, and who for 
that long time has been thinking of my coming to 
the Peaceful Sunlight of the Nine Springs. With all 
the incidents of my life, its trials and lamentations, 
its moments of joy and pride, with each and every 
affair of life, I cannot forget my celestial mother and 
all she was and is to me. 

"My father died many years before my mother, 
and his grave is great and hallowed. Many hundreds 
of times did my mother bless it and ask my father's 
spirit to hurry the time when her own might join 
his in the Happy Vale of Ancestral Longevity. My 
mother could never think of taking her own life. 
It is thought great and glorious to do such a thing 
by many of the ignorant, — and many of the intel- 
lectual, too, — but my father's beloved helpmeet 
could never think it was right, nor that it pleased 
the spirits of the goiie-before. 

7 In my early days I was possessed of many ideas 
that I know now were foolish and wicked, and not 
at all in agreement with common sense or philoso- 
phy; one of these is suicide, and another is the put- 
ting out of the way of infants. If a man or woman 
has lost his or her face [i.e., is disgraced] so badly 
that it is impossible to retrieve it, then perhaps it is 
better to be buried deep in the earth than to live 
and see shame all the rest of one's days. Or, if a 



i62 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

government official, with many honours bestowed 
upon him, is caught steaHng the money that belongs 
to the Throne, and cannot pay back all that he has 
taken, even to the last cash, it is better that he take 
poison. For by doing so he will be thought better 
of by his family and friends and by the Government. 
But if he will persist in living, even when the law of 
his punishments do not reach him, he is each day 
a greater disgrace than he was the day before ; and 
upon his family the burden is heavier as each hour 
passes. 

'^Or, if a great official, when he finds that his 
country is humiliated through him, even though 
personally he be not at fault, it is a true sign of great 
love of country if he put an end to his life. For what 
happiness can a man have when he knows that that 
name which he so proudly bore is the name to be 
forever linked with some defeat or degradation of 
his country's ? 

"I can bless the name of my great and noble 
friend Admiral Ting, and I can bow before the grave 
of the illustrious General Chang! And I can burn 
incense to the spirit of the gallant Commodore Liu ! 
[Officers who committed suicide after the capture 
of Wei-hai-wei by the Japanese, in January, 1895.] 
Yes, they are honoured by all the world even in 
defeat, and their spirits are sweetest and happiest 
among those of our noble ancestors! Yes, even the 
Japanese, in their hour of material victory over our 
brave men on land and sea, did not refrain from 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 163 

doing great honour to these glory-laden officers of 
our army and navy. [The writer here refers to the 
honour paid the suicide officers by Admiral I to, the 
Japanese commander, who restored one of the cap- 
tured Chinese vessels to be a ship of honour for the 
conveying home of their bodies.] 

"I did not ever care much for the Japanese, and 
a deadly hatred was in my heart against that 
nation when it forced China into war over Korea, 
which for two thousand years had been ours; but 
I loved Marquis Ito for this noble action, and I 
was ready to treat with him in the arrangement of 
peace. 

J' Such causes for self-destruction are sufficient, 
but many people take their lives for less reason than 
would be necessary to send a vagrant to jail for two 
days. They are silly people ; they act only from silly 
and selfish motives; they have much pride and self- 
love, and they want others to think they are brave. 
Many widows cut their throats or bind twine tightly 
about their necks or their bowels, or swallow large 
doses of poisonous herbs, in an attempt to show 
what affection they have for their departed husbands. 
What a silly thing ! especially if that were the reason ; 
but the truth is that the widow has become lazy, or 
she fears no other man will want to work for her sup- 
port. In this she does not deceive herself, neither 
does she fool the many thousands who are glad to 
come and witness her death. Let the widow marry 
again and rear up more spirits to honour the spirits 



i64 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

of those gone before. Of course, if she is too lazy to 
do this, suicide is good enough for her. 

"When I was a very young boy in Anhuei I was 
accused of something wrong, and some of my youth- 
ful friends told me that I could only save my face 
and the face of my family by jumping into a well. I 
was guilty of the wrong — the taking of two ducks 
from a pond, which I cooked and ate — and I was 
very sorry, even without the severe punishment 
administered to me by my father and mother as well 
as by the owner of the fowl. But I did not want to 
die, although I had disgraced my people and myself. 
I went to my mother to ask her if I should jump into 
the well. She said. No; that it would not be right; 
but that the better thing for me to do would be to 
earn enough in the next harvest time to pay for the 
ducks and to give an extra duck and seven eggs 
besides. This advice I followed, paying my debts 
and more — for I gave a fine rabbit to the magis- 
trate, and ever after that he was my friend. 

"My life's greatest grief was the death of my 
mother, and I desired a year of mourning; but the 
Throne had negotiated with Russia as to the status 
of Korea, and I was compelled to be in constant 
communication with the Tsung Li Yamen. 

"A letter from Von Moltke has just been handed 
me by Song. I shall read it to-morrow. To-night I 
must read long into the hours from the philosophers 
in memory of my mother. 

"The little battery of artillery, all its mouths 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 165 

pointing east-north [northeast], seems to say that if 
we ever fight the Japanese again we shall be better 
prepared. The toy guns please that part of my na- 
ture which is of the boy. But the business battery 
present is a joy indeed! 

"I now (8 P.M.) take up the Mang-tsze for a five 
hours' reading." 

"Morning. — The letter from Von Moltke is 
simply one expressing his desire to meet me when I 
arrive at Potsdam. He was to have been at Scheven- 
ingen. (I can scarcely write that horrible name.) 

\But I shall never forget the wonderful display of 
sky-fire [fireworks] the people of that place prepared 
for me. We have many kinds of coloured sky-fires 
in China, and they are truly wonderful, but what I 
saw at S. [a mark in the diary] was as if all the spirits 
of the air had combined to make a home show for 
me in Europe. There were real battles of men and 
ships. I know, because I have seen them. And there 
were great representations of the Golden Dragon, a 
picture of the Empress Grand Dowager [Tze Hsi] and 
of the Emperor. At last they had, with the booming 
of cannons and the blare of many military bands, 
a picture of His Excellency Li Hung Chang, in his 
yellow jacket! And, without knowing, of course, 
what kind of a show I was to witness — although 
I had been informed in advance that it was in my 
honour — I had donned my yellow jacket early that 
evening, and was attired in it when the Army Com- 



i66 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

mittee, headed by General Von Getner (?) and the 
city committee, headed by Burgomeister Sanders 
called — " 

In a marginal note, written some time later, the 
Viceroy explains that he was interrupted in his 
description of the "feast of S." by the arrival of one 
of his party with a number of important cablegrams, 
one of them being from President Cleveland inviting 
him to America in the name of the American people. 
This message also enquired on behalf of the State 
Department the probable time of the Viceroy's 
arrival in the United States. 

" Bremerhaven (three or four days after leaving 
Potsdam). — ^ From all that I have seen, I am more 
than ever convinced that the Kaiser and Prince 
Bismarck meant what they said when they averred 
that the German Empire was destined to become a 
dominant factor in Europe. I am wonderfully im- 
pressed with the way this nation seems to be work- 
ing as a unit. The army is upon a business basis, the 
navy is on a business basis, and the whole machinery 
of government works smoother than our best Canton 
timepieces. 

*^.I arrived here this morning, accompanied by a 
host of high officials, and others met our party here. 
The whole place is in gala attire, and I have all I can 
do to make myself believe that I am only a foreigner 
visiting the country, instead of a king in this land. 



MEN AND THINGS IN GERMANY 167 

I am told that hundreds and thousands of foreigners 
are here to-day, and a great number have been intro- 
duced to me, some EngHsh, some French, and some 
Americans — the latter said to be so rich that they 
could buy the fleet of magnificent warships lying in 
this fine harbour. 

" It is a long time since I was engaged in any fight- 
ing, hand to hand, and I am now getting too aged to 
think of engaging in it; nevertheless, my eyes never 
tire of regiments of soldiers and great warships that 
can do things. 

'(^In answer to my questions I have learned the 
approximate cost of most of the German ships. 
There are great shipyards here, and Germany in- 
tends to build all her navy for all time at home. I 
could wish for nothing better than that China 
should build her own fleet and have every man and 
officer in it a true son of the Middle Kingdom ; but 
our people are not sailors, except upon the rivers, 
and they do not know how to handle machinery. 
But they will learn in time, I hope. Anyway, when 
I return, I shall make it my duty to urge advance- 
ment in all Western arts and crafts. We have our 
beautiful literature, far and away ahead of that of 
the Western nations ; but they have the money and 
the guns. 

"It was a sad thought for me to-day, as I saw 
those fine ships lying idle there, that they were doing 
no particular good, while, if they had been ours, we 
should have conquered the Japanese! 



i68 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"Some of the officials hinted that I ought to leave 
an order at Bremerhaven for one or two ships, and 
I said to one of the admirals standing by: 'If you 
will sell me that ship over there for 2,300,000 taels I 
will go in her to France and England and America.' 
But he said that my naval knowledge was too good; 
I had picked out his flagship, the strongest battle- 
ship of the German navy." 

" Two days later. — We are in France, and some- 
how I am feeling more at home. My stomach is in 
bad shape, for I have been tempted to eat too much 
of German foods. Maybe it is the wines that trouble 
me, for I have been taking much of their white 
wines, and like them so well that Count Hatzfeldt 
said he would ship many casks to Tientsin for me. 

"Seventy- five thousand Frenchmen surrendered 
to the Germans just where we crossed into France." 



CHAPTER XI 

IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 

"La Belle France, they call this country," Viceroy 
Li wrote on the evening of the second day in Paris ; 
"the beautiful France, I am told it means, and I am 
ready to agree with the sentiment. Indeed, from 
my observations, I will go still further, and call it 
Happy and Beautiful and Gracious France, for in 
all my travels no hours have been so pleasing to me 
as those which I have spent in this delightful land. 

"Perhaps there is a sense of patriotism in this 
thought, for I must confess that much of the country 
between Metz and Paris is considerably like that of 
KuangrTung and Kuang-Su provinces. Of course, 
there is a vast difference in the houses and fences, 
and the people are not at all alike; but the panorama 
from the train for miles and miles was of the more 
lovely portions of central and south China. The 
trees and vegetables and grasses seem to have the 
same greens and other colours, and if the houses were 
changed and hidden from view, and if a few of my 
people stood along the railroad, I could easily think 
I was one or two hundred miles from Canton instead 
of being that distance from Paris. 

"And this is the very country through which the 
mighty German armies, headed by the King of 
Prussia and the master strategist, my friend Von 



170 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Moltke, and directed by that man of silent thunder 
and terrible lightning, Prince Bismarck, — who 
offered me so much hofbrau only the other day, — 
marched to the subjugation and humiliation of the 
proud country of Napoleon. It is most interesting 
to think about these things, but I suppose the French 
people would rather forget. 

V In truth I believe they must have long since for- 
gotten, for these people are what we call in Chinese 
a smiling family. They are so different from the 
Russians and the Germans — I mean the masses. 
Russian crowds seem to have no enthusiasm. There 
is respect and awe of a dull kind in their faces, and 
a sort of hopelessness that they seem to be afraid 
to give expression to. With the Germans there is 
enthusiasm, but it is of a hard, matter-of-fact kind 
— the life of business or science, perhaps. They 
laugh a great deal, sing much, and talk loud; but 
somehow I was given the impression that all these 
three came from their beers and wines, more than 
from the heart or soul. 

"But the French, as I have said, are so different. 
The faces of the crowds, even of the little boys and 
girls, seem to be those of a people who are living a 
life of earnest joy, as if they knew there was much 
good pleasure in life, and intended to get it out 
without making too hard a job of it. 

"This morning I paid a brief visit to the Bank of 
France, and met the board of governors, all of them 
introduced by M. Leroux, of the Ministry of Finance. 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 171 

I was interested in this great institution, which they 
tell me owns financially one half the kings and princes 
of Europe. I wonder if I could borrow a few million 
francs? As a bit of humour, I had C'Lung ask that 
question when we were in the executive rooms, and 
the chief governor immediately replied : ' Yes, Your 
Excellency, fifty millions, almost on your own 
terms ! ' Then I told him that I was not serious about 
it, and to this he replied that when China was serious 
about loans the Bank of France would be ready. 

."For more than an hour I enquired into the sys- 
tem of finance in vogue in France, and it is, I believe, 
the simplest yet most perfect in the world. I was 
astounded when M. Leroux told me that if every 
centime were taken from the vaults for governmental 
purposes, a call on the branch banks throughout 
France for 1,000,000,000 taels would be answered 
satisfactorily within forty-eight hours. I wonder if 
this can be true? 

J' I learn that loan-oflfices [pawn-shops] are almost 
unknown in France. My enquiries regarding them 
appeared to amuse my informants, for it has been 
published widely in the Parisian papers (and I pre- 
sume in the English and American press, too) that 
my own wealth is largely invested in the pawn-shop 
business of China; and one of the illustrated French 
papers, thinking it was humorous, pictured me yes- 
terday with a Jewish nose and holding in one hand 
the Western symbol of the loan office. Monsieur 
Chateauvere, the chief of the French secret police 



172 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

detailed to guard me while in Paris, asked if I wanted 
legal proceedings against the publisher to be taken, 
but I told him that I had enjoyed the cartoon as 
much, probably, as any one. 

"It seems that in the Western world the small 
moneylender, or perhaps, better, the lender of small 
sums, is a person despised by the general public. 
That is because they squeeze the blood of those who 
borrow. That is why the ' pawn-broker ' is an unde- 
sirable person in the community. 

"However, I can say that while many of the 
statements made regarding me as the owner of most 
of the loan offices in China are without doubt much 
exaggerated, I am interested largely in such estab- 
lishments in some of the provinces. Nor am I 
ashamed of such interest. On the contrary, I am 
glad that I have so often been able to help poor 
people with small loans, upon either their goods, 
their labour, or just their promises. It is not seemly 
that I write of my own virtues, but it is surely the 
privilege and duty of every man to defend his name 
and character when attacked. Therefore, I will say 
that though I have made a comfortable amount of 
wealth from my loan-offices, it has not been made by 
excessive interest charges. If I had been a hard man 
to all those who had borrowed from my agents and 
were unable to pay, I should to-day be one of the 
richest men in the world. And then, too, I have 
never used what wealth was graciously given me by 
the good gods for evil purposes. I have bought 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 173 

neither honours nor offices. I would cut my face 
with a knife rather than accept an office or an hon- 
our by purchase. 

'Jit is true that I have loaned large sums to the 
provinces, and even to the Throne, but it is also 
true that certain honours were stripped from me 
when the Government was greatest in my debt. It is 
also true that for many years I have contributed 
well to flood or drought sufferers, and it is on record 
at the Room of Worthy Deeds [Peking] that during 
the last direful famine I supplied food to one thou- 
sand families in Tientsin, to four thousand families 
in other parts of Chihli, and to five hundred families 
in Shantung, for more than sixteen weeks. . . . 

"They tell me there is very little poverty in 
France, and that even the poorest people save a little 
from day to day." 

^^ Tuesday evening. — ^This evening I was received 
by the President of the Republic and Madame Faure. 
The great halls of the President's palace were 
thronged with eminent people from all over France 
and Europe. The American Minister was there, and 
extended personally an invitation on the part of 
President Cleveland. I know, from all I have heard, 
seen, and learned, that my reception in America 
will be most agreeable. I look forward to it anxiously, 
especially to seeing New York and Washington, 
and visiting with Mr. Cleveland. 

"Jhe French President is a quiet man, of studi- 



174 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

ous, careful habits, I should think. He had learned 
somewhere or somehow to speak one or two phrases 
in Chinese and these he repeated at least eight times 
during our first meeting. Madame Faure is a plain 
woman, but, I hear, of very kindly heart. She had 
around her at the reception a number of the most 
beautiful ladies I had ever seen. They were duchesses, 
princesses, countesses, and the daughters of plain 
politicians or merchants ; but they were all so charm- 
mg that the title of Empress would not be too great 
for the majority. 

' 'What strange things do happen ! One of the gen- 
tlemen standing at a distance seemed familiar to me, 
and I found after a while that he was almost staring 
at me, as if to attract my particular attention to 
him. When I asked Tuan to find out who he was, the 
gentleman himself came over and extended his hand 
in European fashion. 'Does Your Excellency re- 
member me?' he asked in my own language. The 
moment he spoke I remembered him. He was Cap- 
tain Fournier, now a high official, who was the repre- 
sentative of France at the Tientsin Treaty. I was 
so glad to see him again, for he is truly a chivalrous 
man and an honour to his country! I will send him 
a chest of tea. 

^^ Midnight, before starting for Calais. — -Tuan 
opened and read to me a long letter from the German 
Kaiser a little while ago. It came through the German 
Embassy here, and informs me that my request for 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 175 

a hundred German officers to instruct our army has 
been granted, and that the War Office at BerHn will 
at once make the selections. China will pay the 
same salaries that they would receive at home and 
their expenses in addition. I hope the Throne will 
not think I am extravagant. Anyway, the money 
will come out of my own provincial (Chihli) funds. 
Now we shall have an army!" 

The next day, crossing the English Channel, 
the Viceroy wrote : — 

'[1 left France with regret and am going to Eng- 
land with some misgivings. I read in the French 
press, in the ' Matin ' only to-day, that the English 
were making fun of me when I was the guest of 
Germany. That is not right ; for when they make fun 
of me it is not simply a person they are treating 
lightly but the envoy of a great nation. 

"If they do not treat me well, I shall make my 
sojourn very brief, for I would not linger in any 
house wherein I was not welcome." 

"10 o'clock. Same morning. — The weather is 
very rough just now and some of my party are quite 
sick, but I have remained on deck so that I might 
see England and France at about one and the same 
time. 

^'I just heard something which sounds like a 
dream, in truth. Some wealthy Frenchmen and 
engineers, backed by the Government, propose to 



176 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

build a tunnel under these very waters upon which 
we are saiHng. But I also hear that the English, 
who do not believe it is only a dream, will not let 
them have an opening on their soil. Oh, those 
English — they 're afraid of everybody and every- 
thing! Yet they want to make light of me. 

"We are in rough seas, and although I can hear 
the salutes of Dover Castle, I am going to my bed 
for a few minutes' rest." 

That the Grand Ambassador had a touch of sea- 
sickness he acknowledges with evident reluctance 
in the last paragraph he writes in England, just 
before taking steamer for New York: — 

"Once more there is before me the prospect of 
some seven or eight days of quiet, and the thought 
is exceedingly pleasing. Yet there are also three 
thousand miles of ocean between me and New York, 
and they say that of all the great bodies of water the 
Atlantic is the worst in temper. All our party were 
seasick on the miserable little run across the English 
Channel [the narrow sea of the English the Viceroy 
calls it], with the exception of myself. I felt very ill 
at my inwards when we were about midway across, 
but that was the after effects of German food and 
that Potsdam beer, more than any results of the 
ship's motion. Tuan, C'Lung, and some of the others 
chided me upon my so-called seasickness, but if 
they had been across and up and down the China 
Sea as many times as I, they would not have been 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 177 

sent to their staterooms by the nasty little Narrow 
Sea of the English." 

During the first four days in England, so com- 
pletely taken up was Li Hung Chang's time, as he 
himself tells, so busy was he ** with small things and 
great, small people and famous," that he had no 
time for his memoirs. 

^'Hawarden, Eleventh Day in Memory of the Peace- 
ful Jade Emperor. — Only here, in the home of the 
"greatest living Englishman, have I found real rest 
since leaving the boat at Dover. Here I have enjoyed 
for a day such a rest as I have not known since bid- 
ding good-bye to China; for it is a pleasurable rest 
to see and know this * Grand Old Man.' It is delight- 
ful to learn his thoughts and to see things of this 
world as he sees them. It is the highest prize of 
public service to be able to retire to such a home life 
as is his, amid the respect of the world and the love 
and admiration of his countrymen. If I could be 
any other person than Li Hung Chang I should want 
to be William Ewart Gladstone, the Grand Old Man 
of England. And I should like best of all women, 
even now before the Czarina, one of Fournier's 
lovely daughters. 

" Mr. Gladstone met me at the handsome, green- 
covered station upon my arrival. A great crowd of 
his countrypeople were there, and hats were raised 
and handkerchiefs fluttered while our party de- 



178 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

scended from the train. Then there was long and 
hearty applause as we shook hands, both of us bare- 
headed. I do not know when before, in public, I have 
been seen without a head covering. 

"Mr. Gladstone — he is only 'mister,' for he has 
refused the highest titles the British Queen could 
bestow — was much stronger in appearance than I 
had expected to find him ; yet, when we were close 
together and sat face to face, I could see that he 
was an old man; much older in his face than I, 
although there is but nine years' difference, I be- 
lieve, in our ages. 

"At once he apologised for not having come to 
London to meet me. But he said that if he had made 
the trip he would very likely have been ill for a week 
or two. He had sent a telegram to me at Windsor 
Castle to this same effect, two days before, and so I 
had determined to visit him at Hawarden; even at 
the expense of offending a number of the entertain- 
ment committee and several members of the House 
of Lords who had given me pressing invitations to 
visit their homes." 

The Viceroy on a later date gives a list of the 
different personages in England who he thought 
might be offended because he had chosen to go "of 
his own will" to visit Gladstone at Hawarden, while 
neglecting to accept the many other urgent invita- 
tions to prominent houses. 

"What had these other people to offer me?" he 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND 179 

asks. " Bread and wine and musical entertainments? 
I had never heard of them, any pf them, and what 
should I be spending my time with them for? The 
Queen, Her Majesty Victoria, of England and Ire- 
land and India, her son, who will be King if he lives, 
Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Morley, Lord Tennyson, and 
the Houses of Parliament, those were what interested 
me in England, and the ships." 

Still continuing his narrative at Hawarden, he 
says : — 

''Mr. Gladstone and myself, accompanied only 
by Long-li and Bruce [interpreters and secretaries], 
took a long stroll over his estate, and talked of 
many matters removed from state affairs. I was 
surprised how well he knew my life, and he expressed 
the sanie feeling when I told him that which I knew 
regarding himself. He spoke about the Queen, about 
Indian affairs and of Home Rule for Ireland; and 
I was certain that he hoped to see that unhappy 
country governed better before he died. * They have 
given their best to England,' he said, 'and in return 
have been given only England's worst.' 

"He pointed out some tree-stumps to me, and 
said that in eight years he had kept his health 
good and muscles strong by this chopping exercise. 
It amused me very much, and I told him I would 
like to see him strike a blow. So he took up the 
instrument for cutting and made several great dents 
in one of the trees. Then he turned to me and said: 



i8o MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

*Lord Li, did you ever cut down a tree? ' I told him 
I had many a time when I was a boy, but that like 
many other boyish habits I had outgrown this one 
also. But he wanted me to try and I did. However, 
it was awkward work, for the handle of the instru- 
ment caught in my sleeve and I nearly cut my foot." 

"0/z the train, Hour of the Crow. — I slept two 
hours during my visit to Mr. Gladstone, and he slept 
also during that time. 

"When we met again a nice little lunch was served. 
Rare oolong, some Chinese crackers, and cold fowl. 
Mr. Gladstone and myself ate alone this time. Then, 
just before leaving, we sat together and were photo- 
graphed. I could not get one of the pictures, although 
I would willingly pay any price for it. Still, I am told 
it will be in all the London papers in the morning." 

During the following two days the memoirs con- 
tain only the briefest comments on the dinner given 
in his honour by the Lord Mayor of London, his 
visit to the Tower and the Houses of Parliament, 
and finally a carriage ride through the poorer sec- 
tions of the city. Referring to this last, he says 
among other things : — 

"Of course, it is but natural that the hosts of our 
party want to show us only the beautiful and pros- 
perous in their realm. I saw great grandeur and 
much wealth at Moscow and St. Petersburg, the 
temples, parks, and fine avenues. I saw also the 



IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND i8i 

strength and greatness of Berlin, and the wonderful 
activity of Essen, Bremerhaven, Munich, and other 
cities. Nevertheless, my eyes were constantly 
watching for insights into the real conditions of the 
people, and I saw things that somehow told me that 
all was not sunshine and glory. 

"And it is so with London and England. I dined 
as the guest of Her Majesty at the castle, and great 
officers of state took me to the Parliament and to 
the forts and arsenals. I saw the fine parks of Lon- 
don and some of the great thoroughfares; yet I could 
see in the vast crowds so many people who were poor. 
Even in the short time of my journey I have learned 
to distinguish between the different classes of people 
by the clothes they wear. 

"My entertainers were not over-pleased, I fear, 
by my desire and request to be taken for even a brief 
period through the poorer sections. 'We have poor 
in China, millions of them, and the sight of rags is 
not new to me; but I have seen so many grand sights 
that I am afraid, unless you grant my wish, that to 
leave in my present frame of mind would mean that 
I had not a true conception of life in England.' It 
was this way that I talked to them. And finally I 
was shown, hurriedly, some of the poorer parts of 
the city. 

" I cannot tell now of all I saw, nor of my fullest 
impressions; but I know that I have come to the 
conclusion that under a grand show many of the 
countries with great armies and fleets of ships have 



i82 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

much misery hidden from the eyes of the world. 
China is not the only country where there are rags 
and hunger. The Chinaman cries out when his 
stomach is empty and his throat dry; but in foreign 
lands the hungry man steals from his neighbour or 
breaks into his house. Often, very often, as I have 
learned in these few but eye-and-mind-opening 
weeks, he is ready to make silent war with bomb or 
knife upon the Government he blames for his hope- 
less condition. The more I see and learn of the lower 
classes of people in Europe, the greater is my love 
and pity for the miserable poor of my own country; 
for, by comparison, the latter are less vicious. I 
bow now in respect to all of China — from Her 
Illustrious Majesty and the Court to the rivermen 
of Canton." 

"On the ship ready to sail for New York. — Good- 
bye to you. Czar and Czarina, and to you, Russia; 
good-bye to you. Kaiser, Bismarck, and my friend 
Herr Krupp of Essen; good-bye to Happy and 
Gracious La Belle France; good-bye to Victoria, 
the Queen, and the Grand Old Man. 

"I am going to Grant's country." 



CHAPTER XII 

THE ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 

That the Grand Ambassador to the Czar's corona- 
tion was troubled again with what he had already 
characterised, crossing the English Channel, as a 
"disordered stomach," due to the "eating of Ger- 
man foods," and, perhaps, to " Bismarck's hofbrau," 
is evident from the first entry in his diary after 
taking the Cunarder at Liverpool : — 

" Third day on a mad ocean. — After eating. I do 
not think, if ever I went to Germany again, I would 
eat either with the Kaiser, Prince Bismarck, or any 
other great man; that is, unless he would be agree- 
able to my taking my own foods in my own way. 
For I find that my stomach has not been so dis- 
ordered for years. I do not remember that I was 
ever so sick before. Dr. Gray, the ship's medical 
officer, says that I have been seasick. It is a ridicu- 
lous and most unscientific diagnosis of my case, and 
I did not hesitate to tell him so. Dr. Tong-le does 
not agree with Dr. Gray, and his disagreement gives 
me more faith than ever in our Chinese medics. 

"The master of the vessel has been very attentive 
to me; more so, indeed, than I really desired — for 
when one feels as I have felt in the last three days, 
he wishes most of all to be left alone. 

"Tong-Ie says- he has never known me to be so 



i84 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

irritable, and my good cook says he has been unable 
to please me. Poor fellow ! he has staggered about the 
ship like a man filled with strong drink, and I know 
he is not any happier than I am. But he is seasick; 
for he can demolish all kinds of foods, foreign and 
Chinese, without experiencing the least ill-effects 
afterwards. 

"The sun is bright and warm to-day, and I am 
beginning to enjoy the ocean air. We shall be half 
the distance to America by to-night, they tell me. 
I am also told that this mad ocean is quieter on the 
American side." 

, ''Fifth day out. — If the people aboard this ship 
are a fair sample of the great mass of Americans 
I am sure they are a wonderful nation. The men 
are as polite as the French, and do not stare at one 
like the Londoners. I was not pleased with the 
crowds of England's capital/ They were rough in 
looks and in behaviour, and many low fellows did 
actually try to insult me. But the police were every- 
where vigilant and superbly organised, and several 
times the thugs were taught good lessons with clubs. 
Njs^I think every one on board this ship, excepting 
the third-class passengers and some of the crew, 
have been presented to me in one way or another. 
Fine old men, said to be the very rich, are among 
the passengers. One of them, who owns many 
railroads, was introduced by an American army 
colonel, and later he brought his wife and daughter. 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 185 

The latter is the belle of the ship, and would do for 
a princess at court. I told the interpreter to tell 
her so, and she replied with all the sweetness in the 
world that she would like to be if I were king! yfy 

" I think that was the highest praise I ever heard, 
and I shall send Miss Marvin enough fine silks for 
the rest of her life. She gave me a beautiful fan, 
which she said she had purchased in Italy. It was 
so rich and expensive that I did not want to take it, 
and so told her. But she insisted, and I kissed her 
hand. I have never before kissed a strange lady's 
hand, — not outside of our Northern Capital, — 
but I saw much of it in St. Petersburg and Moscow. 
I think now that the Czarina expected me to kiss her 
hand when she extended it immediately after the 
ceremony of the coronation, but I neglected to do 
it through my ignorance and excitement. Instead 
I placed in her hand the Precious Queen Jade Ring 
which the Dowager had sent as a present. 

" I shall never forget the first apparent embarrass- 
ment of the Czar and his Consort, to be immedi- 
ately followed by a most pleased look upon the lovely 
face of the pale Czarina. In a glance she examined 
the Precious Ring, and then gladly extended her 
hand once more, the ring upon her finger. I was 
excited somewhat, and took the hand in both of 
mine and knelt upon the rug. I suppose there is no 
man with his eyes open who will not learn something 
every day. Even Confucius said that a thousand 
years of study was only a preparation for the real 



i86 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

knowledge one should possess to be able to stand 
among his ancestors." 

''A Christian holiday [Sunday]. — My teeth are 
troubling me to-day; that is, those which are not 
false. When I get to Shanghai again I shall have 
these last troubling ones removed. We shall be in 
New York to-morrow. I feel thirty years younger 
than Gladstone." 

"At evening, Second Hour of the Crow. — I shall 
go to my bed early, for we shall be in New York 
Harbour at daylight. I am worried about this 
American life I must lead for two or three weeks. 
I hope it will be much shorter. I only want to see 
Cleveland, and the tomb of General Grant." 

It is exactly a week, according to the diary, 
before His Excellency takes up again the narrative 
of his trip, writing at the Hotel Bellevue, Phila- 
delphia: — 

^"How can I write of all that has happened in the 
six days just past? It seems as if I had lived a year 
or more since I landed in New York from the Atlan- 
tic steamer. I have been tired almost beyond words, 
but the reception I have been accorded by this great 
American people has filled me with pride, and I 
know that in China it will be thought most won- 
derful. 

IJ And is it not strange? For years my people have 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 187 

been barred out of this rich country — not because 
they were criminals or had leprosy, but just be- 
cause they were born in China. If the same persons 
had been born in Japan or Korea or India or Eng- 
land they would have been let pass through the 
emigrant gates. And yet, I was born in China, and 
these Americans, high and low, pay me the honour 
and attention due a visiting monarch. I will see if 
this cannot be changed somewhat. 

"I have met that great-and-everywhere person 
known as the American newspaper man, and I have 
enjoyed him. Also, I guess, he has enjoyed me, for 
I have been told more funny things by the reporters 
than I ever heard in all my life before. They are a 
jolly lot of fellows, and I think a regiment of them 
would make the biggest army [enemy] laugh so 
much that they either could not fight, or would not 
want to shoot such clever chaps. 

"When we came sailing into New York Bay, — 
before, indeed, we had really left the mad ocean 
behind us, — there were many craft coming to meet 
us, smoke from their funnels, and white steam and 
noise from their whistles. Ahead of all the rest were 
two or three handsome launches, making for our 
ship as if they would run us down. I thought these 
must be the official boats, and I went far forward 
on the ship and looked ahead to the oncoming 
vessels. 

"There were no ladies on these first boats, and I 
surely thought they must be the carriers of the 



i88 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

officials. But I soon learned my mistake, for these 
were the boats of the American press. Our big ship 
slowed down — for the press is all-powerful in the 
United States — and a lot of men scrambled aboard. 
They were clean, fine-looking fellows; like young 
diplomats or secretaries in a foreign office. 

"At first I was somewhat nonplussed at their 
familiarity, for they neither bowed nor hung back, 
but came straight to our party, and began introduc- 
ing themselves and shaking hands. It was impossible 
to be offended, although, as I have said, I was at a 
loss just what to do or say. But soon I got used to 
the fine fellows, and took them as far forward on the 
deck as we could go. 

"When I had them there I said: 'Now, gentle- 
men, I have come to see America, and not to be the 
distributor of information. I want to learn things. 
Therefore, please tell my secretaries all about the 
points of interest as we go up the harbour.' And 
they did it, too. I asked about everything I saw, 
and before we had landed in New York I could tell 
many things concerning the city, especially what 
buildings loomed up into the sky, the various waters 
of the bay, the islands, and the forts, and a lot of 
such information as only one who travels may 
acquire. 

V From that morning to this I have not been — 
I was going to say an instant — an hour, in my wak- 
ing life, without the company of my newspaper 
friends. At Washington, with the officials, on the 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 189 

trains, at all the receptions and meetings, even wait- 
ing for me at the hotels when I wanted to retire, and 
again looking for me before I had partaken of the 
first morning meal — they are wonderful and tire- 
less, and deserve to earn a great deal of money. I 
saw them hobnobbing with the President and with 
Governors, just as if these high officials were only 
respectable tax-gatherers. Still, it all told me that 
this country was, indeed, the democracy of the 
world. That great lesson I learned from the actions 
of the American newspaper men, and I bless them 
for it! 

" I am a journalist myself. Many people would be 
willing to doubt and to ridicule, but it is true never- 
theless. While I have never published a journal, nor 
acted as editor, the profession of writing is so noble 
that I am honoured to claim membership therein. 
When in my youth I thought of my future, I said 
that some day I wanted to be the Chang-yuan [poet- 
laureate] of my country, and I studied long and dili- 
gently. I took my degrees ahead of many thousands, 
the hsui-tsai [A.B.], the chu-jen [M.A.], and the 
tsun-sz [LL.D.], following each other rapidly. And 
I have written and written for many years. 
\ -'One young reporter laughed long when I told 
him I was a newspaper man, too, and that he surely 
did not expect me to give him all the information I 
had gathered. He had been asking me questions like 
a rapid-fire gun, and I saw he was new at his profes- 
sion, and I pitied him. 



190 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"'You say, Mr. Li Hung Chung, that you are a 
newspaper man?' he asked when I appeared serious. 

"'Yes,' I replied, ' I have written a great deal that 
has been published in our Chinese papers, and which 
the editors did not dare refuse.' 

"'How was that?' he enquired. 

"'They were decrees from the Throne,' I told 
him. 

"Evidently that was all he needed for his article 
that day; for he left me immediately, after offering 
me a cigar, and the next morning I read in one of the 
New York papers that ^ Li Hung Chang is a writer 
who uses an axe on any man who dares Blue Pencil his 

'-'The newspaper men of New York have given 
me such treatment that I shall never forget them. 
While they have not treated my visit in the severe 
manner of the Germans, or in the half-patronising 
attitude of the London and Liverpool journals, they 
have tried to get at the truth regarding China and 
the affairs of the Far East. The editorial writers 
have poked a little fun at our party, but at the same 
time the chief editors have made my visit the oc- 
casion for long and sensible editorials upon China 
and her people. For this I thank them. The great 
United States has been our friend in the past — even 
though she shut out the emigrants — and she will be 
our strong friend in need some day. 

"Of all the cities in the world I think New York 
is the worst. The worst, least suited to the life of 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 191 

Li Hung Chang, I mean. Of course, they did not 
think of me when they were building it. 

^ But I should not want to live where, if an earth- 
quake happened, ten thousand tons of stone and 
iron would topple over on my head. Oh, I have pains 
now in my head and neck from looking up! And when 
I was looking up, there were hundreds of thousands 
looking down at me — like people in crevices of 
great cliffs, four times higher than our tallest pago- 
das. Had they been enemies, how easy for one or 
ten of them to drop heavy boulders down into my 
carriage ! But they were all friends, thousands upon 
thousands of friends of the Throne, of the Grand 
Ambassador and his party, and of the millions and 
millions of my countrymen. I know this to be so, for 
flags and banners and long streamers waved every- 
where. Even the myriads of young folks and chil- 
dren waved little flags of yellow silk upon which 
were painted the Dragon, and beautiful women and 
girls cheered for China and clapped their pretty 
hands. It was all very pleasing, very satisfying to 
me and those with me, and I know the news will be 
told far and wide in China." 

^^ Later. Same night. — The fine picture of Presi- 
dent Cleveland, which I made him promise me in 
New York, was delivered by a special Government 
messenger this evening. Mrs. Cleveland's picture 
also accompanies the President's, and there is this 
brief but delightful inscription in her own hand: 



192 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

* Joining with the President in sending photographs 
to the most distinguished of Chinese statesmen, I 
also request that assurances of my highest esteem be 
given Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.' 
\\ "It is told me that of all those fair women who 
have been mistresses of the Executive Mansion at 
Washington, Mrs. Cleveland is one of the most 
lovable. This I can readily believe, for I do not know 
when or where I have seen a face and form more 
pleasing to the eye. I would call her the Mother of 
Graciousness and the Sister of Heavenly Love. As 
the Chief Lady of the United States she is an orna- 
ment to her sex, and a glory to womankind the world 
over. I wish the illustrious and sacred Empress 
Dowager could know Mrs. Cleveland and the 
Czarina.--::^" 

--^\ President Cleveland could not have paid a 
higher compliment to royalty than he did to me and 
the members of our party. It was so great and affect- 
ing that I authorised C'Lung to expend fifteen hun- 
dred taels upon a message to the Throne telling 
of the American President's superlative compliment 
in coming all the way from Washington to New 
York to greet us. Could he have done more? No, 
if he had offered me the post of Secretary of State I 
could not have felt more highly honoured. 

" I cannot compare Mr. Cleveland with any man 
whom I have met, unless it is with Prince Bismarck. 
Yet, while he appears to have the great force and 
will-power of the Iron Chancellor, I am sure he is 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 193 

not possessed of the same quick temper. Bismarck 
kicked one of his hounds, and slapped a lackey for 
letting the dog get in his way. I cannot imagine 
President Cleveland doing that, or getting so red in 
the face as Bismarck did. Still, one cannot always 
tell. I had a lesser wife [concubine] once, who, before 
she came to my house, was the personification of 
meekness and lovability. I almost began to believe, 
before marriage, that she was too mild in mind to be 
really human; but in six weeks she began to make 
my tea bitter, and to treat me as if I were the tail 
instead of the head of that establishment. I paid her 
twenty shoes of silver [perhaps about $300] and sent 
her away. ""-^ 

''^■This recalls some of the questions of another 
reporter in New York. He wanted to know how 
many wives I had, and after I told him I had as 
many as I needed, he was impertinent enough to 
ask how many I needed. The question did not please 
me, but I did not let him know it, for that would 
have been a satisfaction to him which I did not wish 
to give. And so I asked, 'How many wives have 
you?' He answered quickly, 'None.' 'Good,' I 
said, 'you look as if you might be able to take care 
of just that number. ',,„x^>^ 

"When Mr. Cleveland and myself talked about 
wives and women in America and China, it was 
different. The President was seeking enlightenment, 
and so was I. He laughed heartily when I told him 
that if he were President of China he would have, 



^194 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

as he has here, but one wife in full legal status; but 
that undoubtedly he would also possess a secondary 
wife in each province, or perhaps more. ' No, no,' he 
said, the tears of laughter running down his cheeks. 
'But, come to think of it,' he continued, 'it takes a 
man capable of managing sixteen or eighteen Chinese 
women to govern one American girl.' 

" I cannot pretend now to tell of all our activities 
in New York, with the dinners and receptions and 
the speeches. The Mayor presented me with the 
keys of the city; at least, that is what he said he was 
doing. The ceremony meant that I could go where 
I pleased, eat and purchase what I pleased, and even 
buy fine silks and satins, and the country would pay 
for it all. But, as it happened, I was n't allowed at 
any time to go where I pleased, nor to spend so 
much as a cash [about one eighth of a cent]. I saw 
the great Central Park, the Courts, and the Prison. 
There is another prison on an island in one of the 
big rivers that run around New York; or, rather, 
through New York, for the original city, built on 
an island, has spread out over territory in two or 
three provinces or states. 

"A great river, as wide as ours at Hankow, bounds 
the city upon one side. I went up this fine stream 
when I was taken to visit the tomb of the great 
General Grant, who put down the rebellion of the 
Confederates as I had put down the long turmoils 
of the Taipings. And, strange enough, I was fight- 
ing the Taipings with Ching andGordon in 1863 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 195 

while General Grant was fighting to reach the rebel 
capital. 

t' I think,- if they wanted to win, that the Confed- 
erates used poor judgment when they placed their 
capital so near the old capital of the country. Why, 
the distance is not greater than that between 
Shanghai and Nanking! If their army lost the 
battles in front of their capital, their Government 
must run away or fall into the hands of the other 
side. A Government that is running like a rabbit, 
or trapped like a guinea-pig, does not command 
much respect from its followers. I have looked at a 
map of the Confederacy, and I should have estab- 
lished the capital somewhere in Texas. It could be 
moved later. 

i "I cannot shed tears as some people do, — there 
are those who shed them when they break the shell 
of a painted egg, — but my heart was full of bitter 
sadness and sweet memory when I stood beside the 
tomb of my glorious departed friend General Grant. 
Of course, I was in a manner happy to think and 
know that I could stand at his holy grave, and speak 
to him in the Other Land of Blissful Longevity. It is 
at the grave of the departed that one's words are of 
most effect. The spirits linger there to listen, and 
when the distressed friend comes and speaks, his 
words are caught up and carried to the Sacred Hol- 
low, where the Seven Springs are always flowing. 

"And so I told the spirit of my departed and 
illustrious friend that I had come all the way from 



196 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

distant China to look upon his tomb as I had looked 
upon his face so many years ago. And it was the 
very truth ; for while I had an official mission to per- 
form for my Sovereign, and a message of good will 
to take to the Czar and to the rulers of Belgium, 
Germany, and the other countries, I had in my heart 
a loving desire to speak my inmost thoughts to the 
spirit of the famous American commander. 

'' I could not have returned satisfied to China had 
I left this sweet and flower-scented duty unper- 
formed. I offered sweet incense and holy flowers to 
his spirit. I placed a booklet of prayers at his head, 
and I asked his blessed spirit to think of me always, 
and to give me welcome to the Land of Sunshine and 
Golden Hours. This done, I am filled with an ocean 
of peace and content; just as when, at the grave of 
my illustrious and most holy mother, I find joy of 
the heart and incense of the mind. 

"I have thought and thought so much of General 
Grant. He came to China covered with the honour 
and plaudits of the whole world, and we honoured 
him still more; we honoured him as no foreigner 
before or since has been honoured in our country. 

"And — is it not strange? — was he speaking to 
me? — of General Grant I was thinking when the 
Japanese ruffian attempted my life at Shimonoseki; 
when the Marquis Ito and myself, as representatives 
of our nations, were engaged in the treaty of peace. 
Is it not strange? 

"Yes, I even looked beyond to the trees of General 



ATLANTIC VOYAGE AND NEW YORK 197 

Grant and Mrs. Grant, and spoke to him as I felt 
the burning of the maniac's bullet!" 

The Viceroy's memoirs take it as being well known 
that during the visit of General and Mrs. Grant to 
the Far East the Japanese honoured them, among 
many ways, by the planting of two splendid trees 
of the Samurai clan on a little island opposite the 
city of Shimonoseki, dedicating the ground as sa- 
cred. Upon one tree was hung a copper portrait 
and inscription of the General, and a like placard 
with the picture of Mrs. Grant upon the other. It is 
recorded locally that soon after General Grant's 
death the tree dedicated to him withered away, but 
that the other grew green and luxuriant until Mrs. 
Grant's death, when it, too, died. 



CHAPTER XIII 

WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 

"Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love, as it 
is called, also the city of the Cradle of American 
Liberty. I want to put down a few impressions now, 
for in a few days more I shall be commencing the 
long journey across the United States toward the 
Pacific Ocean and my beloved home. I am getting 
homesick for China; and although of late I have 
been sending brief despatches by cable to the 
Court, always with love and reverence for the illus- 
trious Throne, I am anxious to tell China about my 
triumphal journey in foreign lands, as a first wife 
is to relate the antics of her first-born boy. 

*LU New York is the noisiest, most mind-distract- 
ing and elbow-rubbing place I ever saw, and Wash- 
ington the most beautiful and open, — though I 
have no doubt my French friends would not thank 
me for saying this, especially considering the woods 
of Paris [the Viceroy probably refers to the Bois 
de Boulogne or the wide boulevards] , — Philadelphia 
is one of the most smiling of cities. 

"Of course, I mean the people, for I cannot say 
that the city has any sections which compare at all 
with the upper parts of New York, from Grant's 
tomb and beyond; nor has it anything half so impos- 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 199 

ing in buildings or thoroughfares as the Capitol and 
Pennsylvania Avenue of Washington. 

"The crowds are not as dense as they are in New 
York, nor as well-dressed as those in Washington or 
Paris, but they are better-natured than any I have 
seen anywhere. Clean, nice-looking people, too, 
with smiles all over their faces, and cheers and 
'hellos' and other friendly greetings coming from 
their throats. 

"I think the place well named 'City of Brotherly 
Love.' But I am going to invent a new title, — 
which I told the Mayor, and he said he would write 
it down, — and call it the Place of a Million Smiles. 
That is almost poetic, but it is proper, for I have 
also written some lines on the Liberty Bell, which 
are yet to be rewritten when I return to China." 

Whether Li Hung Chang ever rewrote his lines 
upon the Liberty Bell, composed during his stay in 
Philadelphia, is not known. Certain it is that a 
careful search of his quite countless manuscripts 
and notes fails to reveal any further attempt to 
improve or revise the few original lines, although in 
several places in his memoirs of later date he refers 
to the Liberty Bell and his visit to Philadelphia. 

The poem to which he refers, and which has an 
excellent cadence and metre according to Chinese 
standards, is extremely difficult of rendition in 
English, if attempt is made to follow the author's 
rather involved thought : — 



200 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

To my eyes they did point out the symbol of Liberty, 

And to my ears they did direct the sound. 

It was only a sound of dong-dong. 

And it came from an instrument of brass made by man. 

The bell did not ring to my ears; 

I could not hear the voice in my ears; 

But in my heart its tones took hold, 

And I learned that its brazen tongue 

Even in silence told of struggles against wrong. 

These good sons of America 

Call the Liberty Bell ancient; 

But I who come from the oldest of the lands, 

A student of the philosophy of the ages, 

Know that what this bell speaks 

Is of Heaven's wisdom. 

Millions of centuries before the earth was born. 

It repeats the heart words of the gods; 
It repeats, only repeats: 
But let it do so to the end. 

In his prose regarding the Liberty Bell, the 
Viceroy speaks again of its age, but in a much 
lighter vein : — 

"They showed me a beautifully-shaped old bell, 
which is in Independence Hall, and is called the Bell 
of Liberty; which means that at its ringing all men 
within sound of its voice know they are free. But 
they do not ring it any more because it is cracked. 
Is Liberty cracked also? 

"When I was informed that it was considered 
'old,' in fact, called the 'Old Liberty Bell,' I asked 
regarding its age, and some of the officials began 
looking quizzically one to another. The Governor 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 20i 

of the State himself did not know its age, but finally 
some fellow with sharp eyes discerned a date on the 
symbol, whether inside or out I cannot say, and 
announced that it was some hundred or two years 
old. 

"Ho! a hundred or two hundred (I forget which) 
years old ! He ! we should laugh in China if any one 
should call anything old at that age. It is simply 
an infant, still suckling. I laughed at the mention, 
and I told the Governor. He winked and said : * Yes, 
Viceroy, all the nations are suckling infants com- 
pared to your venerable land.' . . . With that I 
bowed and thanked him, and I liked him for his 
speech. 

-The great celebration for our party in this city 
was held principally about the place where the 
Liberty Bell is guarded — a building called Inde- 
pendence Hall. It is a small structure, not half as 
large as the Hall of Sacred Records at Canton, nor 
even of the Temple of the Great Philosopher at the 
Forbidden City. Here it was that the first Assembly 
of American representatives met to declare war upon 
England, and freedom from her heavy taxes. The 
English taxed everything the Americans used, almost, 
excepting the air and the water. The worst tax of 
all was upon tea grown in China. The Americans 
were very fond of tea, and they wanted much of it. 
So England decided that she could raise large rev- 
enues by taxing the tea. Then the Americans threw 
the tea into the harbours, tax and all, and would 



202 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

drink nothing but milk and water and whisky for a 
long time. Not much tea was drunk for eight years, 
when the war ended with England beaten. It was 
what she deserved. I should hate any man who 
deprived me of my sou-chong [a rare variety of tea, 
such as the Viceroy carried as a present to the Czar 
and Czarina, and such as he invariably used him- 
self whenever it was obtainable]. 

"There were several speeches in and about 
Independence Hall, even myself making a brief 
address, which was translated by — I cannot 
recall his name, a secretary of our Washington lega- 
tion. It was only a few sentences, the best wishes 
of the Chinese nation to the United States. I also 
spoke a few words in English: 'I am proud to be 
welcomed in the land of Washington.' 

*M must not forget the Mayor of Philadelphia, 
the Honourable Mr. Warrick [Warwick], who was 
a jolly fellow, wearing a silk hat and a perpetual 
smile. The smile suited his city. Mr. Honourable 
Mayor made one of the longest speeches I have heard 
on this trip, and he put me to sleep. Yes, I really fell 
into a deep doze during his spouting, and it took 
roars of laughter to awaken me to the sense of my 
position. When I opened my eyes I saw thousands 
of people laughing and clapping their hands, and at 
first I thought it must have been some very humor- 
ous or witty remark of the speaker's that had brought 
about such an extraordinary outburst of good nature. 
Then I saw that everybody was looking at me, includ- 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 203 

ing the Honourable Mayor himself. He was laugh- 
ing with the rest! Of course, I felt a little embar- 
rassed. Then the speaker said, half to me and half 
to the immense audience, 'His Excellency does not 
like long speeches, evidently; so I will cut mine 
short.' This being translated to me I had my secre- 
tary say to the Honourable Mayor that I did like 
long speeches, for during them I could have long 
sleeps. The Honourable Mayor repeated my words 
to his hearers, and there was laughter and cheer- 
ing for several minutes. Anj^way, the Honourable 
Mayor finished what he had to say quickly, the 
bands began to play, and the soldiers — they were 
Pennsylvania State Troops [National Guard] — 
began to march, and our party entered carriages and 
were driven up to Broad Street. 
--"Broad Street is well named. It is very broad, 
and many miles long; the longest straight street in 
all the world. I looked down it both ways from the 
City Hall, and it seemed to have no endings. Some 
one told me it was thirty miles in length, which, if 
true, is nearly one and one half times as long as the 
great outer wall of Peking. In New York their prin- 
cipal street is called Broadway, when it is not broad 
at all, but narrow, as thoroughfares go in this coun- 
try. I think it is not as wide as the Hatemen Road 
in Peking; but with its buildings it makes me think 
of the Si-kiang River at Sin-chow, with its tremen- 
dous depths and high banks. But Broadway leads 
the universe for business, and 'Business' is the key- 



204 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

note of progress to-day. In America, especially, 
everything is 'Business,' even to the art of writing. 
Nobody in the United States writes for the mere love 
of the work. No, the most immortal poem or the 
greatest tale of true love and heroism must be paid 
for before the writers will let their manuscripts out 
of their hands. It is wonderful to think that if I had 
been paid even a tael for each full page I have written 
I should be almost a millionaire!" 

It may be well to explain here, lest the explana- 
tion made in the introduction be already forgotten, 
that Li Hung Chang's favourite writing-paper — 
if we are to judge by what he used — was extra 
heavy, and cut to a size approximating a postal- 
card, though not of exactly that shape. His writ- 
ten characters were large, about a 36 point in type 
measurement, while his emphasised or exclamatory 
words or characters were often written much larger. 
This, being considered, with the further fact that 
seldom or never did he write beyond three lines to 
a "page," will help to render this last statement of 
his less exaggerated than it seems upon its face 
to be. 

," I find that the matter of local or provincial pride 
is the same the world over. Londoners, in spite of 
the fog and damp of their great city, will tell you 
that it is the best place on the planet to live in. New 
Yorkers say that outside of New York there is little 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 205 

to see, and they let their local pride lead them to 
scoff at and make fun of Philadelphia. Of course, 
the intelligent people know that this is only palaver, 
but the ignorant get it into their heads, and wag 
their tongues as if it were the sacred truth. 

I'And this makes me think of what one of the 
reporters said to our party when we came from New 
York. He said that when we were in Philadelphia 
we would be either dead or asleep. I did not make 
reply at the time, but I have since thought that 
there was more danger of being dead in New York, 
with all the rush and noise overhead and on all 
sides, than in Philadelphia. 

"But was it not humorous that in all my travels, 
however tired and worn I might be, I never went to 
sleep in public before? I had a temptation to tell 
the Mayor of Philadelphia, when he and the other 
officials came to meet our party at a junction point 
[German town?], what the New York reporter had 
said, but I was afraid it might offend him, for I did 
not know what a good-natured man he was. After- 
ward he himself told me how all the country called 
Philadelphia slow and sleepy, so I see that I should 
not have hurt his feelings at all." 

"Late, same night. — To-night I visited the Union 
League, and was served a delightful Chinese din- 
ner with wines and tea from Canton. It was the 
best that my stomach has received since leaving 
home. 



206 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"A great number of prominent people were there. 
I have a complete Hst, and will preserve it. But a 
few I will mention now: the Honourable Governor 
of the State, who was also a General in the great 
Civil War; Mr. Wanamaker, the foremost merchant 
of the United States, besides several leading editors 
and writers, among them Mr. Smith." 

'^ Next morning. — General Hastings, the Gover- 
nor of this great State, called upon me this morning 
to bid me adieu, and to present one or two young 
ladies and several members of his staff. I gave the 
Governor a strong invitation to visit me in China, 
and I told him that if he would come and spend a 
half a year in the quiet of my home in Peking, I 
would make him so pleased and comfortable that he 
would not ever want to return to the noise of Penn- 
sylvania. He thanked me cordially, and said he 
would give the matter careful thought. General 
Stewart, who was with the Governor, asked me if I 
could not make him the head of my provincial arJny. 
He said he loved to fight. 'In that case, General,' 
I said to him, 'we do not want you, for armies that 
are always looking for battle usually get more than 
they bargain for.' 

"I am sure that Governor Hastings is by far the 
handsomest man I have seen in all these Western 
countries. He ought to hold the position of emperor 
or king, or at least be duke of a duchy. It was a pity 
that he did not appear in uniform, for he is a born 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 207 

general-in-chief in appearance, and of most com- 
manding presence. 

"When the Governor stood near me I was not so 
large as before, for I had to look up at a slant into 
his eyes. I asked him how tall he was, and what he 
weighed without his clothes on, and he told me; but 
I have forgotten the figures just now. At any rate 
at the Union League we stood back to back, and he 
was an inch and two thirds taller than myself. 
Together we were the biggest pair of men in the club. 

v'l had several delicious American drinks called 
'cocktails,' and I asked Salang to find out just what 
ingredients were used, and how they were made. 
There was just enough spice and sweetness to them 
to suit my taste, and I do not think they would hurt 
me if taken not too frequently. 

"I feel that I shall sleep most calmly to-night." 

After the above no entry appears to have been 
made for a week or ten days ; for as Western dates 
or places are seldom given, and Chinese dates, when 
used, appear to be the markings of time in a num- 
ber of different epochs, it is next to impossible to 
know with any degree of certainty where the follow- 
ing lines were written; but, presumably, from the 
general tone, they were written west of the Rocky 
Mountains : — 

^ After three days on the train. — Again I must 
think of Russia with its vast plains and heaven- 
reaching mountains. But here the parallel of thought 



208 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

must end; for with Russia all the wild and newer 
country is far to the east, while in the United 
States it is the west that is widespreading and new. 
Yet I must not be misunderstood, nor must I leave 
in my records statements that I myself will take 
wrongly in the times to come when facts, figures, 
and impressions are not as plain as they are to-day. 

'^In this wonderful Western empire of the Ameri- 
can Union there is the same spirit of enterprise and 
business, with all modern progress, that there is 
along the seaboard of the Atlantic. And to think 
that fifty years ago there was not a settlement of 
stationary people in the hundreds of miles we have 
been travelling since we left the great river of 
America, the Mississippi. 

"Can it be true? Can it be that all these changes 
have taken place since I took my examinations for 
the Han-lin? It must be, for I have heard it from 
every one, and a whole nation cannot lie. 

"For hours and hours we travel, and see nothing 
but great ranches with cattle, or vast stretches of 
country without a living man or woman or fowl. 
Then there will be a small town, then another, then 
another; until finally the train rushes through the 
outskirts of a big city, and into a station that makes 
one think again of New York, Chicago, or London. 
And there are high buildings everywhere, so high 
that men look like children when seen from their 
roofs. Heaven help this country whenever an earth- 
quake comes! 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 209 

"I cannot see, in spite of the explanations that 
have been made to me, what is gained by having 
these structures built up so that they almost stop 
the clouds going by. Yes, I can see in New York, 
for New York is built upon an island, and the 
shippers and others do not want to go across rivers 
and bays to do their business. The city becomes 
crowded, and land is so valuable that those who 
own it send their edifices up into the air, which is 
free to use as high as they want to go. Yes, I can 
understand New York's 'cloud-stoppers'; but I 
cannot understand why these Western cities, with 
cheap land for hundreds of miles in all directions, 
will try to see how many great buildings they can 
crowd together in one place. Still, I suppose if I 
should write a whole volume, and make a present of 
it for circulation among the business men of these 
cities, they would not even thank me for my med- 
dling. Anyway, it is none of my concern; and, be- 
sides, I do not expect to see the places again. 

"I care nothing for mere places, unless there is 
some charm of the mind or heart to draw and hold 
me. And no place because of itself can have a claim 
upon my affections. There must be some human or 
ancestral association connected with a place if I am 
to think about it, or dream about it, or write 
about it. 

"Moscow as Moscow is nothing to me; but as the 
place where I witnessed such overpowering cere- 
monials, where I saw the Czarina, and where I 



210 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

presented to her the Sacred Ring, sent by the illus- 
trious and ever virtuous Empress Dowager, it is a 
place enshrined deep in my heart. 

"And so with Essen — I hate its smoke and heat, 
but I love Essen because of Herr Krupp, and admire 
Essen because of her cannons. 

"And so with Ha warden. 

"And so with Philadelphia and Washington and 
Mt. Vernon. 

"And so with home — where our loved ones are! 
'T was an American that wrote a great sweet song 
of home. I know the air, for I heard the bands play 
it on the warships when I was a young man, but I 
do not know the words as they were written. How- 
ever, the words are in the heart of each human 
being — just as the dong-dong-dong of the Old 
Liberty Bell at Philadelphia is in the national hearts 
of all men, before those hearts are turned to some- 
thing else by pride or selfishness or greed of gain and 
power." 

The great Viceroy wrote but little more of his 
memoirs while on American soil. What he did write 
was by way of advice to his countrymen in the United 
States, that they should obey the laws faithfully, 
and live in peace and concord with the people about 
them, save their money, and eventually return to 
the land of their ancestors. 

His last paragraphs, written at San Francisco, the 
day before his sailing for China, are as follows: — 



WHAT HE SAW IN AMERICA 211 

// 
■' "To-day my friends took me far out toward the 

Golden Gate, and gave me my first view of the 

broad Pacific from this side of the world. 

. "I could not believe it was so many thousand 

miles across. For as I stood there upon those high 

cliffs at one side of the narrow entrance to the great 

bay of San Francisco, I strained my tired eyes across 

the waters, and I thought I could see in the beautiful 

distance the holy mirage of my native land. Those 

about me talked and pointed; but I heeded them 

not — for my very soul was reaching out to the souls 

of China. I saw the Throne, and I bowed my knee 

to Their Illustrious Majesties. I saw Tientsin and 

Canton and Hankow — all places I love and shall 

ever love. 

"Returning to my apartments, I had nothing 

more to say. I have seen the world in these months. 

Now all I ask is the supreme joy of kissing the 

earth of my native land." ./ 

V 



CHAPTER XIV 

SHORT NOTES FROM HIS DIARY 

^^ July 10, 1899. — The Empress Dowager calls, with 
an attempt at humour, the T'wan-lien [provincial 
militia] a 'tiger ride,' because it has got into the 
control of the Great Sword Society. Perhaps Her 
Majesty will yet learn that such animals and such 
riders, when half encouraged, devour their friends 
as well as their enemies." 

^* Nanking, 1869. — All foreigners regard China in 
the light of a yellow corpse, buried by itself, and 
never to awaken without the white devil's medicines. 
When they are looking upon China these foreigners 
all use the same spectacles; yet at home they fight 
among themselves, and have more bitter hatreds 
against each other than they have against us. The 
French hate the Germans, and the Russians kill the 
Jews, but they are all Christians when they come to 
China." 

^^ Peking, 1900. — How idle is much of this talk 
that we hear about overthrowing the Dynasty, and 
substituting a Chinese family to reign in place of the 
Manchus! Every one knows, including myself, that 
there is no Chinese family sufficiently respected to 
rule this country in peace and order." 



SHORT NOTES FROM HIS DIARY 213 

(Without date.) — "Kang Yu-wei Is sometimes a 
patriotic official, sometimes a foolish meddler, and 
oftentimes a brainless ass." 

" Suchau, August, 1864. — If the Taipings had a 
little generalship to go along with their wild fanati- 
cism, they would have marched north and driven 
the Imperial family from Peking. For some time it 
appeared as if the new so-called Emperor Tien-teh 
[Hung Siu-tsuen] would really establish a dynasty, 
and rule the whole Middle Kingdom. But he was 
only an impostor in religious matters, a fakir among 
the people, and in no sense a military leader. It is 
true that he had a number of brilliant lieutenants 
among the Wangs; but these men, even, came under 
his unholy spell, and were handicapped in their 
plans and movements." 

"December, 1898. — Whenever there is trouble I 
am sent as a doctor, yet whether the patient dies or 
gets suddenly well I receive no credit, but always 
blame. Whether it is the seizing of Kiao-chow by 
the Germans, the demanding of Wei-hai-wei by the 
British, or the bursting of the Yellow River banks, 
I am always the physician in attendance; but, 
instead of collecting a fee, I am usually subject to a 
fine for my trouble and skill. 

"And now with the present affair in Shantung, 
Chang Ju-mei [the Governor] and myself receive all 
the blame, and are denounced on all hands. Of course 



214 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

the excuse for this is that we have not dealt properly 
with the finances of the river improvements, but the 
real reason is that Chang Ju-mei and myself are 
unutterably opposed to the Big Swords being allowed 
to meet and organise. They mean nothing good but 
much harm, yet the Government will not consent to 
their suppression. For his share in combating their 
growth Governor Chang has lost his position, and the 
hot-headed Yu Hsien, Treasurer of the Hu-nan and 
Tartar General at Nanking, has been sent in his 
place. Now this very appointment indicates just 
how the Court feels toward these organised ruffians 
who called themselves patriots and defenders of the 
State, for Yu Hsien is one of the most bigoted of 
officials, and has in the past allowed battles to be 
fought against the missionaries and converts, espe- 
cially the Roman Catholics. Perhaps our Govern- 
ment is willing that more parts of the empire be 
grabbed by foreign nations on account of these 
fellows." 

In 1886 the Viceroy first mentions Yuan Shih-k'ai: 
"Yuan Shih-k'ai is one of the bravest of our men, 
and an excellent soldier. In 1 884 he was not afraid to 
stand up to the Japanese in Korea, and it is regret- 
table that he did not have a large force under his 
command. Had he been possessed of two or three 
army corps, the story of the war I believe would 
have been very different. He is a great admirer of 
the Germans, especially of their military system. 



SHORT NOTES FROM HIS DIARY 215 

Of course this is natural, for many of his troops 
were German trained, and he did not leave them 
behind when he was appointed Governor of Shan- 
tung." 

''Peking, October 20, 1900. — To-day I had a long 
conference with Sir Claude Macdonald, one of the 
brightest and best diplomats Great Britain has ever 
sent to China. Sir Claude and myself have always 
been on the closest of terms, and are true personal 
friends, although at times we do not admire each 
other in foreign office affairs. The same could be said 
of Sir Nicholas 0' Conor, the diplomat who could 
make more friends for England than any minister 
I ever knew." 

(Without date.) — "It is indeed a good thing for 
the country that Prince Ching held back his Manchu 
troops during the siege of the Legations. I saw him 
to-day, and we have become better friends than ever 
before. He told me that during July Prince Tuan 
kept urging him to make an attack, insanely telling 
him that if the Ministers and their friends were once 
slaughtered to the last person the Powers would 
never dare to send representatives to China again. 
Oh, what an insane and contemptible idea! Ching 
knew, as he said, that such an act would be unfor- 
givable by the Powers, and that if necessary a 
million men would be sent to China to compel 
reparation and seek revenge. Ching declares also 
that it was all he could do to keep his troops in 



2i6 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

check, for the ferocious spirit of the Boxers had 
entered the hearts of officers and men, and all of 
them thirsted for the blood of the foreigners and 
native converts. 

"After my talk with Prince Ching I called at the 
American Legation, and had a good visit with my 
friend Major Conger. I told him what I had learned 
from Prince Ching, without that black part relating 
to Tuan ; and he said that he knew that the foreign- 
ers who lived through the terrible eight weeks of the 
siege could and did thank Prince Ching that they 
were alive when the allies came to the relief. 

"As it was, China was disgraced in the eyes of 
civilisation, and the whole nation was humiliated 
and scorned; but if Ching had been a weaker man, 
and had given way either to the commands or the 
importunities of the Empress Dowager and Prince 
Tuan, that surrender on his part would have been 
the vital step in the obliteration of the Chinese 
Empire from the political map of the world. I hated 
Ching for the words he uttered when I went to 
Japan, but I have forgiven him with all my heart, 
and gladly bow to him as the saviour of his country." 

(Without date.) — "I have written that 

during my many years' experience with foreigners 
in the conduct of business I have become thoroughly 
familiar with their characters, and I have found that, 
no matter what they are engaged in, they act hon- 
ourably, without deceit or falsehood." 



SHORT NOTES FROM HIS DIARY 217 

*^ April, 1898. — It does not matter what my 
enemies may accuse me of; in all my life I have been 
on the side of law and order, and I have never 
enquired whether those twin institutions were white 
or yellow. Decency is like gold, the same in all 
countries." 

^^ June II, 1887. — England has ever asserted that 
in all my diplomatic work I have had Russia's inter- 
ests constantly in view. England is very wrong, just 
as she has been many times before in other matters. 
If I have appeared to work for Russia's interest, it is 
because in so doing I have believed that I was accom- 
plishing the greatest good for China. The British 
Foreign Office caused me to be berated officially and 
through the Press over the Manchurian agreement 
with the Czar's Government; but the British refused 
to say that they would help us in the slightest during 
our Japanese conflict or after; while Russia, at the 
close of the war at least, let Japan understand that 
China was not alone." 

(Without date.) — "Bishop Favier, if I am ever 
the sovereign of a nation, and you are without a 
position — though men of your calibre are rare — 
I will offer you the place of generalissimo of the 
forces! You are a noble soldier, Favier, and you 
saved the lives of your little army. I hope the head 
of your sect [the Pope] will make of you the head of 
the Church." 




2i8 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

The Viceroy alludes to the remarkable and heroic 
defence of the new French Cathedral made by 
Bishop Favier with a few French, Belgian, and 
German marines, and his three thousand converts. 
Though attacked for days and nights at a time, the 
Bishop and his band nobly defended their position, 
inflicting great loss upon the Boxer hordes which 
assailed the church. 

" Written in Canton, in early March, 1900. — 
There can be little doubt but the southern viceroys 
have received orders to be prepared to despatch 
all foreigners. Who is responsible for such dastardly 
commands? How well the authors knew better than 
to send such outrageous documents to me!" 

(Without date.) — "Foreign Governments say 
they lease our lands. We know they are gone for- 
ever." 

(Without date.) — "Sometimes the pretensions 
of these ' learned men ' from the West anger me, at 
other times I feel sorry for them, and now very often 
I sit down and laugh at them until my dinner is all 
upside-down! To-day I was talking with a 'Pro- 
fessor,* who came all the way from Massachusetts to 
teach in the new University, and he was telling me 
that he should be lost until his books arrived. 

"JT have eighteen large volumes that I use in my 
work,* he said; 'books of science, art, ethics, and 
lexicography.' 



SHORT NOTES FROM HIS DIARY 219 

"/Eighteen?' I asked. 'Do you need them all?' 

'"Oh, yes; but they cover the whole range of my 
work.' 

t!I did not like to smile in his face, but I could 
not help it. He asked me the reason for my apparent 
merriment. 

" * I was only thinking of hov»^ much more exhaus- 
tive your Western wisdom must be than ours,' I 
replied. Then I told him that King He, our literary 
Emperor, had compiled and issued the Pei Wan Yun 
Fu [Dictionary] in 171 1, and that it consisted of one 
hundred and thirty volumes!" 

(Without date.) — "How splendid a thing it 
would be if our ancient motto ' King sik tsze chil ' 
[Reverence the written word and keep it holy] could 
be hung conspicuously on the walls of the various 
foreign offices!" 



CHAPTER XV 

HIS TASK IN THE BOXER CRISIS 

According to his memoirs, Li Hung Chang, then 
Governor of the two Kwang provinces, foresaw in 
the early part of 1900 that China would shortly be 
embroiled with foreign nations over the Boxers, or 
Great Sword Society, who were becoming aggres- 
sive in the north. In February of that year this 
entry is found in his diary : — 

"For the third time I have memorialised the 
Throne to trample under foot the I-h o-k'uan 
[Patriotic Peace Fists], but as no action was taken 
upon my former memorials to put an end to this 
organisation of ruffians and hard-hitters, I expect 
but little attention will be paid to my later petition. 
I have tried time and again, almost without number, 
to impress the Throne with the idea that China has 
nothing to gain and everything to lose by opposing 
the so-called foreign devils. It would be utterly im- 
possible to drive them out; and last, but most im- 
portant, our country would be poorer in many ways 
if the foreigners ever withdrew, willingly or otherwise. 

" During my last days at the capital I made every 
effort to impress the truth of these views upon the 
Court. The Empress is apparently in sympathy 
with these sentiments, and Jung-lu [one of the most 
influential and intimate counsellors of the Dowager] 



HIS TASK IN THE BOXER CRISIS 221 

is really a strong and abiding friend of the Christians. 
But Prince Tuan secretly favours the Patriotic 
Peace Fists — as I am personally aware — and will 
use every means he can to persuade Their Majesties 
that the society can exterminate the foreigners if it 
is not interfered with. Tuan has a powerful follow- 
ing ; but I fear most of all that Tze Hsi believes what 
he says, and secretly favours the Great Swords." 

In April, 1900, the Viceroy makes this observa- 
tion : — 

"I have received from the Throne the following 
letter, which I am candid enough to believe is but for 
effect abroad : ' The establishment by the rural popu- 
lation in each province of militia for their own pro- 
tection, and for the preservation of their lives and 
families, is at bottom simply the good old ancestral 
practice of keeping a lookout and lending mutual 
assistance; and so long as those concerned mind 
their own business, there is no reason why they 
should be interfered with. All that is to be feared is 
that amongst such persons the good and bad may 
get mixed, and that pretexts may be taken to raise 
trouble with native Christians. It must be remem- 
bered that the Sovereign regards all with equal 
benevolence, without distinction of territorial divi- 
sion, for which reason the populations concerned 
should obey the spirit of this idea, and refrain from 
giving vent to their private resentments, in such wise 
as to cause hostility and render themselves liable to 



222 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

punishment. Let us tell Your Excellency that we 
expect the governors-general and governors con- 
cerned to give strict directions to local authorities, 
to issue plain-speaking proclamations as occasion 
may require, calling upon all persons to attend to 
their own affairs, and always to keep on peaceful 
terms with others, not ignoring the spirit of these 
earnest exhortations. 



» >» 



The Viceroy comments: "This is all nonsense; 
it means nothing right. I know the country will now 
get into trouble over these ruffians. But they are 
not numerous in my provinces, and dare not show 
their heads." 

He writes (supposedly in May, 1900) : — 
"Hurried telegrams from the Throne have come 
to me, urging that I suppress any lawlessness in my 
territory. This angers me, for it is but a blind and 
subterfuge. There is no lawlessness here ! and there 
will be none! 

" I have sent messages every day of late to Jung-lu, 
urging him to employ all means in his power to win 
the Empress Dowager strongly over to the side of the 
foreigners. She is wavering, for she wants to believe 
what both of her strongest admirers say ; while these 
two men [Jung-lu and Prince Tuan] are on diamet- 
rically opposite sides." 

"Oh, I am sorry for China! If the Legations are 



HIS TASK IN THE BOXER CRISIS 223 

disturbed, the foreign nations will march through 
the land with fire and sword. Even the United States, 
our friend heretofore, will send her armies and fleets 
against us." 

"Later [without date]. — The final blow has been 
struck by these wretches of the Patriotic Peace Fists, 
with the killing of the German Minister, Von Kette- 
ler, whom I knew and whom I first met in Germany. 
What will become of China now? Still, Heaven is 
aware that I have urged and urged against the 
bandits until I am weary! Prince Tuan, who was 
born a hater of the Christians, and has grown more 
hateful with his years, has probably convinced the 
Throne that if the Boxers are not interfered with 
they will clean the land of all foreigners. What hell- 
ish rubbish! His ignorance must be paid for by his 
country." 

Though it is evident that Li was deeply aroused 
over the troubles at the north, he seems to have been 
sufiiciently at peace with himself to conduct an 
ancient ceremony at Canton, for the next entry in 
his notes reads : — 

*lTo-day we performed the full ceremony of the 
Tilling of the Soil. All my officials and myself, in 
full court dress, went by chair to the Temple of Shen 
Nung, beyond the East Gate, and performed our 
obligations. The great and illustrious Shen Nung is 
the Divine Husbandman who reigned 4700 years 



224 MEMOIRS -OF LI HUNG CHANG 

ago. It was he who invented agriculture, and to him 
the world owes the most sublime reverence and 
respect." 

Some time later he writes: "It is as I expected: 
there is war in the north, and Tuan has treacher- 
ously persuaded the Throne to let the Imperial 
troops join with the Boxers in an attempt to exter- 
minate the foreigners. My heart is sick — I wash 
my hands of the whole affair." 

He next writes at Tientsin (presumably late in 
August): "Here I am once more in the same old 
house I occupied for so long, and where I spent so 
many happy days and nights — and unhappy ones, 
too, I may add; for to be Viceroy of Chihli, and 
Grand Secretary at the same time, brought many 
cares and troubles to my mind. Yet all the difficul- 
ties were surmounted and many good things accom- 
plished; therefore, as the sum total, I was happy and 
satisfied. 

"Now, my great task — perhaps the last great 
task of my career — is to save China. Their Majes- 
ties are in temporary exile, and the foreigners are 
in control of the Capital. I am glad to think that 
many of the miscreants who got our country into 
this terrible fix are themselves in trouble, and will 
be brought to book. I do not glory in the death of 
any man, but there are some heads I shall be glad 
to see chopped off. One man in particular [the Vice- 



HIS TASK IN THE BOXER CRISIS 225 

roy refers undoubtedly to Prince Tuan] deserves 
fully, if any man ever did, the ling-chi [the death of 
a thousand cuts]. I hope it will be the reward of his 
damnable meddling. 

"All the foreign nations are against us, it would 
seem. No, there is an exception, and the exception 
may prove our salvation from being sliced up like a 
water-melon. The Americans are, of course, acting 
with France, Russia, England, Germany, and Japan, 
but at the same time I have received assurances from 
the American commander and from the Washington 
Government that the United States will oppose 
morally and physically, if necessary, the partition 
of China. 

"My greatest fear now is from the Germans and 
Russians. The Germans, because of the death of 
their Minister, are despatching regiments every day 
for China, and are sending one of their greatest 
field marshals to command their troops. If they 
establish a big army in the Capital, and demand an 
indemnity such as they did of the French, and stay 
until it is paid, I fear they will never leave us. The 
Russians, too, have a tremendous force in Man- 
churia, and along the Siberian Railway; and if there 
is an agreement between them it may take more 
than a combination of the other Powers to make 
them relent. My hope, however, is centred in the 
attitude of the United States." 

^^ Later, same. — Cable despatches from our Min- 



226 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

ister at Washington are reassuring. The American 
Government is confident that its note to the other 
Powers, proposing a joint indemnity to be agreed 
upon by myself, acting for China, and the foreign 
representatives, will meet with the approval of the 
foreign offices. Good!" 

''October 12, Peking. — I have learned from a 
source that is beyond questioning that the Powers 
had determined immediately after the capture of 
the city to make a division of China between them. 
Yet it seems that, like so many dogs over the carcass 
of a beast, they could not agree upon their respective 
shares. It was determined that the European 
nations and Japan should act in concert, ignoring 
the United States. This, however, was not found 
to be feasible, for first England, and then Japan, 
weakened. The trouble is that Japan wanted that 
part of China as her sphere of influence which Russia 
claimed as her own. Perhaps amidst the quarrelling 
of the wolves the sheep will get away." 

''October 15. — I visited the Russian Legation 
to-day, and had a meeting with the foreign ministers. 
The position taken in this matter by the American 
nation means the integrity of China. The United 
States has won over the other Powers to her way of 
thinking. Thanks be to the spirits of our fathers, 
our country may yet be saved from slicing. But 
the indemnity will be great. Yet our country will 



HIS TASK IN THE BOXER CRISIS 227 

be left to us, and we can pay it. Japan, for an old 
enemy, is acting most fair, and it is my belief that 
there is a perfect understanding between Tokio and 
Washington." 

^^^^ Peking, at U.S. Legation, October 19. — To-day 
I received an American newspaper man, and gave 
him a lengthy interview. I should not have talked at 
all with him, but for two things: his paper, which 
is one of great influence at Washington, has been 
China's advocate in all this miserable affair; and, 
secondly, he told me that he tried to get an interview 
with me at the Philadelphia junction [German town], 
but failed. So I made it up with him, and sent the 
thanks of China and myself to those fair-dealing 
people who live in the land of Lincoln and Grant 
and McKinley." 

The American newspaper man referred to in this 
paragraph of the Viceroy's memoirs is the editor of 
the present work. 



CHAPTER XVI 

CALLED TO THE THRONE' S AID 

Because of his well-known tendencies in favour of 
the foreigner, tendencies which made him a "thorn 
in the flesh" of the reactionaries, who were in almost 
undisputed control of the Peking Government, and 
who were responsible for the coup d'etat of 1898, by 
which the Empress Dowager resumed the active 
throne, and the young Emperor Kuang Su was com- 
mitted to a palace prison, it was desired by those in 
power that Li Hung Chang be induced to quit the 
Capital; and so, late in 1899, he was sent for by Hze 
Tsi, and asked to name what office outside the 
Capital he would consider most to his liking. 

He wrote on December 12, at two o'clock a.m.: — 
''Within the hour I have returned from an unpub- 
lished audience with old Buddha [the Empress 
Dowager], and I am ill at ease, for Her Majesty 
intended that I should go south, intimating that 
affairs were such in that quarter that I was needed 
there. I did not dare tell her so outright, but all 
this is the merest subterfuge, for while I may count 
my best friends right here in Peking, these very 
people are desirous that I be away in case of serious 
disturbances. Serious disturbances ! Indeed, if there 
are such they will be of their own making and 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 229 

desiring — and against wishes of mine which are 
well understood. 

''I am an aged man now, nearing my seventy- 
seventh year, and perhaps they think my mental 
vision is dimmed so that I cannot see the real trend 
of affairs. It is known to the Court, and to the 
Grand Council, and to all who are conversant with 
my life that I am not seeking active office at this 
time. No one is better aware of this than Her 
Majesty, yet she pretends to think she would be 
honouring me further by sending me south. 

" However, I will utter no further protest against 
this wicked policy, which, if pursued to its logical 
conclusion, can have but one end: the disastrous 
wrecking of the country and the humiliation of the 
Throne, if not the complete abolition of the Dynasty. 
I shall make a final appeal to Jung-lu, to Yuan 
Shih-k'ai, and even to the impetuous and calamity- 
seeking Prince Tuan. If this is without the desired 
effect, once more on my old knees I will ask Her 
Majesty, for the good of herself and her people, to 
drive the Boxer influence from the palace. But I 
fear Tuan has her ear, and that she is already con- 
vinced that all the foreigners will be driven into the 
ocean. Oh, if these great personages could have but 
seen the armies and navies I saw, and the giant 
strength of Europe and America, they would no more 
dream as children If 

The memoirs of the aged Viceroy do not disclose 



230 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

whether he ever made these final appeals to the 
Powers within the Forbidden City, to the end that 
the complications he so plainly saw might be averted, 
nor do the official records indicate that he memorial- 
ised the Throne upon this subject. His diary does 
contain, however, a number of very brief references 
to his contemplated departure for the south, the 
last one of which reads : — 

" I am being sent away from the trouble which is 
sure to descend upon this capital, and I am bidding 
good-bye to many friends as though something told 
me I should not see them again. As I was given my 
choice, I have chosen the Canton Viceroyalty." 

''My old Palace, Canton, March ii, 1900. — My 
old-time friend Wu Ting Fang writes me the most 
earnest letter I have seen for years, a communication 
full of wisdom and high patriotism. I am making 
copies of it, and will send them as fast as I can to a 
number of leading spirits in the north, hoping that 
Dr. Wu's strong and sensible words will be followed. 
Our excellent Minister knows to a dot how the 
Government at Washington feels, and the general 
trend of American opinion, and it will be well for 
Prince Tuan and others to heed his warning." 

"March 17. — A letter from Bishop Favier says 
that all friends of enlightenment at the Capital be- 
lieve it was a mistake for me to leave it. I am agree- 
able to this opinion, but this last mistake is only one 
of many that I have made in life under duress." 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 231 

^' March 26. — I am sorry that when I made the 
Treaty of Peace with Japan in 1895, I did not agree 
to let them have the Province of Shantung along 
with the other concessions ; for then China would be 
rid of this turbulent territory where these fanatical 
Big Fists are bred like rats on a grain ship. It was 
there that Yu Hsien, he of the Manchus, and an 
alleged friend of the Dynasty, put swords into 
their hands and greater ferocity into their hearts. 
If it were mine to say — as it is Jung-lu's now — I 
should soon finish Governor Yu for the ignoble part 
he has played up to this time. I well know person- 
ally the ignorant and fire-eating Yu, and I would 
not let him assist in the carrying of my chair." 

^^ March 2'j. — Reports from all the northeast 
country indicate that the Boxers are everywhere 
rising and committing depredations. Paoting-fu, 
Tientsin, and many of the smaller heins are threat- 
ened by them, and Peking itself is trembling. I can 
do nothing more. It shall be my attempt from this 
time on to write much and sleep more. I have spent 
many sleepless hours since my arrival here. But the 
time is not very remote when I shall sleep undis- 
turbed through the ages." 

^^ March 29. — A telegram from Jung-lu says the 
old Buddha is completely in sympathy with the 
Boxer movement, but will not consent to turn over 
any Government arms to them. I credit only the 
first part of his despatch." 



232 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

^^ April 5. — It is regrettable that such a man as 
Yuan Shih-k'ai should listen to the song of anarchy 
that is being sung by the Boxer rufhans, as I under- 
stand he is doing. He has wide experience, and in 
Korea showed himself an able man and a high- 
minded patriot. 

"But he seems to be carried away by the wild 
clamour of the hour, when he should know that the 
foreigners, even the Germans alone, are able to lay 
waste the entire kingdom if they but take the notion. 
He does not reply to my communications ; therefore 
I shall not trouble myself to address him again. With 
Jung-lu it is different ; he will always write in answer, 
though it is never possible to tell by his words just 
what he means. I think that he realises the complete 
ascendancy of Tuan over Her Majesty, and is fearful 
of getting himself into disfavour." 

^^ April 5. — It is now high time that the author- 
ities patch up things before the rain comes, and 
diminish the fuel before the fire rages." 

"April 7. — ^I have written Major Conger that 
he had better send warning to the United States 
Government of approaching trouble, and then leave 
Peking with his family. I have the highest respect 
for this fine diplomat, who is a most worthy repre- 
sentative of a worthy people." 

''April 16. — 1 Perhaps, after all, the Empress 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 233 

Dowager is the best personal friend I have in the 
world outside my own family and domicile. This I 
say because, with the reports coming in from all quar- 
ters that the so-called Patriotic Peace Fists [Boxers] 
are everywhere committing crimes against the for- 
eigners, their persons, and their properties, I could 
not remain inactive or silent if I were in Peking; 
and that would mean that Prince Tuan would see to 
it that I was put out of the way. Still, to cut short 
this life of mine a year or two would do no great 
harm, unless it might be to make Lady Li a widow 
ahead of season. But, regardless of consequences, I 
should prove that in my later days I was as true to 
my country as I was thirty or forty years ago in the 
hard, long, and discouraging battles with the Taiping 
hordes that hoped to overthrow the empire. Never- 
theless, the Long-Haired Rebels were not greater 
enemies of the State than some of the oily-tongued, 
richly-robed counsellors at this very moment bask- 
ing in the smiles and confidence of Her Majesty 
beneath the palace roofs. 

"No, I did not write in this manner while I was 
at the Northern Capital, and I did not utter such 
words, but I spoke plainly to all who had a right to 
listen ; and if my advice is already forgotten — as it 
went unheeded — it will not be many moons before 
it is recalled again, perhaps in bitterness and sorrow. 

"However, I must call a halt to myself in all 
this matter. My hand shakes like that of a fever pa- 
tient, and my tired eyes are as those of a mummy, 



234 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

glazed with varnish ; for I do not sleep one twelfth of 
each day, and my household declares that never 
before have I acted the double part of tyrant and 
ass. Yes, I am both; but in the future I shall en- 
deavour to mend all my ways. Only this : I hope and 
pray that seven times seven scourges and torments 
will fall upon the heads of the Patriotic Peace Fists! " 

^^ June 10. — I do not like the news from the 
north. A telegram from Shan, which I asked him 
to send, indicates that already in Peking the de- 
struction of foreign property has begun. I presume 
some of my own buildings, leased by foreign firms, 
will not be spared. Anyway, I do not care. I only 
regret that there are so many English, German, and 
Japanese business places in the city." 

''June 14. —And so the wild ruffians have killed 
the Chancellor of the Japanese Legation. This 
means war with Japan, at least. Some one else 
will have to go as peace commissioner, for I am 
done with making apologies, and then standing 
about while brickbats of abuse and contumely are 
hurled at my head." 

''June 15. — '^Prince Tuan is surely in command 
of affairs at the Northern Capital, and leading the 
Throne on to sure destruction. He should hide his 
head in shame, a head that is filled with a mere 
molten slush of hatred, and is devoid of real brains. 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 235 

If I were now in Peking I would brand him as the 
worst enemy of China in all her history. It would 
cost me my head to speak this way, but the satisfac- 
tion of telling the truth to the arrogant and ignorant 
Tuan would be worth the loss by decapitation." 

^^ Midnight. — -My wife declares that I will be- 
come insane over these national troubles. She is 
wrong, just as she often is. I should go insane if 
I had nothing to bother me. My normal mental 
state for half a century has been that of perturba- 
tion. Perhaps it is well that the Patriotic Peace 
Fists are giving me something to worry over, thus 
keeping my mind in its normal state." 

^^ June 22. — A telegraphic message tells me of 
the outrageous killing of the German Minister! 
In the name of hell and purgatory and all the black 
valleys, what are the national miscreants thinking 
about? Oh, they call their leader the great Jade 
Emperor, and they make offerings to him, but I hope 
he will smite their twisted heads ! 

"Now it will not only be war with Japan but 
with the German Empire. Indeed, the Boxers have 
gone so far that they have committed the Throne 
to their conduct, and the Government of China will 
be held in strict accountability to the Powers. The 
whole Christian world will unite against us, and 
reach for the neck of China as a farmer grabs the 
feast-goose in the pen. 



236 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

'lAll my warnings have been and are in vain. All 
my words have gone for naught, and the Dynasty 
is forever doomed. I saw the trend of events, but 
in my most hopeless hours I could not foresee that 
the ambassadorial officers of the Powers would not 
be safe within their own compounds. Tuan will say 
that these outrages were not committed by Imperial 
troops, and that, according to my reports, is true. 
But this will by no means relieve the Government 
of responsibility in the eyes of the outside nations. 
Japan is undoubtedly this minute rejoicing because 
of the death of her Legation Chancellor. It is the 
excuse they have long awaited, burning under their 
chagrin and disappointment, since their undeserved 
fruits of the war with China were taken from them. 
And Germany will take no apology for the murder 
of her Minister ! If she took Kiao-chow from us for 
the lives of two missionaries, what will she demand 
for the life of Baron von Ketteler? I tremble for the 
consequences of all this folly! 

'{1 did not know the Japanese official, but Baron 
von Ketteler was one of the last to say good-bye 
to me in Peking. And upon that occasion he spoke 
happily of our meeting in Germany four years before, 
when I was the guest of his own great nation. And 
now, my fellow-countrymen kill him in the streets of 
our capital! What will the Germans think now of 
the fine China I spoke so proudly of, and which I 
endeavoured to represent so worthily? And all the 
Christian world will more than ever look upon us 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 237 

as a vast aggregation of barbarians, who are not 
possessed of the first principles of international 
dealing, nor deserving of the first advances of inter- 
national comity. 
"I am ill." 

'^ June 23. — In spite of my illness I sent urgent 
telegraphic messages to Prince Tuan, Jung-lu, and 
Yuan Shih-k'ai, telling them if they would save 
the nation from being sliced like a watermelon by 
the foreigners, they must turn all the strength^of the 
Throne against the ruffian society. I sent also a long 
despatch to Prince Ching. He does not admire me 
much since the Japanese war, but he is a strong, 
sensible patriot, and undoubtedly sees the terrible 
chasm into which the country is likely to fall." 

^^ June 24. — Sing brings me news from the city 
that a telegraphic despatch to the press says the 
Boxers are in complete control of Peking, but that 
Prince Ching has refused to join them with his 
troops. If he would but fight them with his Manchu 
warriors, he would save the situation. I am ill and 
weak." 

^^ June 25. — There is an unconfirmed report in 
the city that the Tsung Li Yamen has sent word to 
the Legations that a state of war exists since the 
firing upon the Taku forts. If this is true, then the 
Government is irrevocably committed to its own 



238 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

destruction. I can scarcely believe that such a 
height of political insanity has been reached by the 
Court." 

^^ June 29. — To-day I received from the north 
a copy of an edict in the name of the Emperor, but 
written, I know, by Her Majesty : — 

'\'Ever since the foundation of the Dynasty, 
foreigners coming to China have been kindly treated. 
In the reign of Tao-Kuang and Hein Fung they 
were allowed to trade and to propagate their religion. 
At first they were amenable to Chinese control, but 
for the past thirty years they have taken advantage 
of our forbearance to encroach upon our territory, 
to trample on the Chinese people, and to absorb the 
wealth of the empire. Every concession made seems 
only to increase their insolence. They oppress our 
peaceful subjects, and insult our gods and sages, 
exciting burning indignation among the people. 
Hence the burning of chapels and the slaughter of 
converts by the patriotic braves. The throne was 
desirous to avoid war, and issued edicts enjoining 
protection of legations and pity toward converts, 
declaring Boxers and converts to be equally the 
children of the State. With tears have we announced 
in our ancestral shrines the outbreak of war. Better 
it is to do our utmost and enter on the struggle than 
to seek self-preservation involving eternal disgrace. 
All our officials, high and low, are of one mind. 
There have also assembled, without official sum- 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 239 

mons, several thousands of soldiers. Even children 
carry spears in the defence of their country.' " 

^^ July 12. — After nine days in bed with little 
sleep and less food, I am aroused by a report which 
is repeated in the city, saying that I have been 
reappointed to the Chihli Viceroyalty. This cannot 
be true, for several reasons. Anyway, I shall stay 
where I am, in office or out. Almost to repeat the 
unkind words said to me fifteen years ago [Li refers 
to Prince Ching's remark when the former started 
for Japan as Peace Envoy] : ' They have started the 
trouble, now let them finish it.'" 

^^ July 13. — The local press publishes papers 
confirmatory of the report that I have been named 
Viceroy of Chihli. I am not well enough to go north. 
I shall not go. That part is settled." 

^^ July 14. — My entire household is in tears, 
because the report of my appointment is confirmed 
in the press to-day." 

^^ July 17. — JShe Empress Dowager's communi- 
cation arrived this morning, and the dumbfounding 
truth is known at last. She directs that I proceed at 
once to the north, saying that I am urgently needed 
in the present great crisis. Urgently, indeed ! I was 
not urgently needed in Peking a few short months 
ago, when I was virtually told that if I had any 



240 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

'loyal' advice to give I might do so, but if I was 
opposed to the 'sacred policy' I should hold my 
peace. I have decided not to go, even though it may 
cost me much to remain." 

^^ Later, same day. — I have just forwarded to 
Her Majesty a telegram as follows: 'Your Majesty's 
confidence in me is, indeed, a very great honour, and 
I beg to say that I am sincerely grateful, more so 
than I am able to express. Yet I cannot fail to recall 
the folly that has now suddenly destroyed that 
structure of reformed administration which, during 
my term of more than twenty years of office as 
Viceroy of Chihli, I was able to build up not unsuc- 
cessfully. I fear that in the present state of my 
mental and physical health it will be quite im- 
possible for me to resume that difficult post. The 
present time of crisis requires a different and a 
stronger hand than mine.'" 

"Later. — I have sent another message to Her 
Majesty through Yuan Shih-k'ai, asking what may 
be the chances for the safe escorting of the foreign 
ministers from Peking to Tientsin. I said also to 
him that he might inform Her Majesty that I would 
probably start north as soon as my health permits." 

" Shanghai, July 22. — ^^It appears that there is 
nothing for me to do but to obey the decree of the 
Throne, and again bow and scrape and apologise 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 241 

to the foreigners for the murderous doings of a 
class with which I am not at all in sympathy. I 
had fondly thought that I was done with all this 
sort of thing, but the truth seems to be that I am 
face to face with difficulties and complications such 
as have never confronted us before. Of course, for 
these very reasons I should be the readier to take 
upon my shoulders the task; but when I consider 
how absolutely unnecessary all this trouble is, and 
that my sincere and unselfish advice was so wholly 
scorned, I have little heart for the work." 

"Shanghai, July 23. — This message came from 
the old Buddha this morning: *Li Hung Chang is 
to obey without question our earlier decree, and to 
hasten to the north, regardless of other considera- 
tions. He must know that the crisis is very serious, 
and that he can, therefore, offer no further valid 
excuses.'" 

" Midnight, July 22). — I have just finished a 
memorial to the Throne, which I shall forward to 
Yuan Shih-k'ai at the earliest hour of the morning 
by swift couriers. Though lengthy, I am keeping a 
copy, that at least my own children, if denied access 
to the Records, will know my words : — 

'^It is to be remembered that between this our 
Empire of China, and the outer barbarians, hos- 
tilities have frequently occurred since the remotest 
antiquity, and our national history teaches that 



242 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

the best way to meet them is to determine upon 
our pohcy only after carefully ascertaining their 
strength as compared with our own. Since the 
middle of the reign of Tao-Kuang, the pressure of 
the barbarians on our borders has steadily increased, 
and to-day we are brought to desperate straits 
indeed. In i860 they invaded the Capital, and 
burned the Summer Palace; His Majesty Hsien- 
Feng was forced to flee, and thus came to his death. 
It is only natural that His Majesty's posterity should 
long to avenge him to the end of time, and that your 
subjects should continue to cherish undying hopes 
of revenge. But since that time France has taken 
from us Annam, the whole of that dependency being 
irretrievably lost; Japan has fought us and ousted 
us from Korea. Even worse disasters and loss of 
territory were to follow ; Germany seized Kiao-chow ; 
Russia followed by annexing Port Arthur and Talien- 
wan ; England demanded Wei-hai-wei and Kowloon, 
together with the extension of the Shanghai Settle- 
ments, and the opening of new treaty ports inland; 
and France made further demands for Kuang- 
Chou-wan. How could we possibly maintain silence 
under such grievous and repeated acts of aggression? 
Craven would be the man who would not seek to 
improve our defences, and shameless would be he 
who did not long for the day of reckoning. I myself 
have enjoyed no small favours from the Throne, and 
much is expected of me by the nation. Needless for 
me to say how greatly I should rejoice were it possible 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 243 

for China to enter upon a glorious and triumphant 
war; it would be the joy of my closing days to see 
the barbarian nations subjugated at last in submis- 
sive allegiance, respectfully making obeisance to the 
Dragon Throne. Unfortunately, however, I cannot 
but recognise the melancholy fact that China is un- 
equal to any such enterprise, and that our forces are 
in no way competent to undertake it. Looking at the 
question as one chiefly affecting the integrity of our 
empire, who would be so foolish as to cast missiles 
at a rat in the vicinity of a priceless piece of porce- 
lain? It requires no augur's skill in divination to see 
that eggs are more easily to be cracked than stones. 
Let us consider one recent incident in proof of this 
conclusion. Recently, in the attack by some tens of 
thousands of Boxers and Imperial troops upon the 
foreign settlements at Tientsin, there were some two 
or three thousand soldiers to defend them ; yet, after 
ten days of desperate fighting, only a few hundred 
foreigners had been slain, while no less than twenty 
thousand Chinese were killed and as many more 
wounded. Again, there are no real defences nor 
fortified positions in the Legations at Peking, nor 
are the foreign ministers and Legation staffs trained 
in the use of arms; nevertheless, Tung Fuhsiang's 
hordes have been bombarding them for more than a 
month, and have lost many thousands of men in the 
vain attempt to capture the position. 

" ' The fleets of the Allied Powers are now hurrying 
forward vast bodies of their troops; the heaviest 



244 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

artillery is now being brought swiftly to our shores. 
Has China the forces to meet them? Does she pos- 
sess a single leader capable of resisting this invasion? 
If the foreign Powers send 100,000 men they will 
easily capture Peking, and Your Majesties will then 
find escape impossible. You will no doubt endeavour 
once more to flee to Jehol, but on this occasion you 
have no commander like Sheng Pao to hold back the 
enemies' forces from pursuit; or, perhaps, you may 
decide to hold another Peace Conference, like that of 
Shimonoseki, in 1895? But the conditions to-day 
existing are in no way similar to those of that time, 
when Marquis Ito was willing to meet me as your 
Minister Plenipotentiary. When betrayed by the 
Boxers and abandoned by all, where will Your 
Majesties find a single prince, councillor, or states- 
man able to assist you effectively? The fortunes of 
your house are being staked by a single throw; my 
blood runs cold at night at the thought of events 
to come. Under any enlightened sovereign these 
Boxers, with their ridiculous claims of supernatural 
powers, would most assuredly have been condemned 
to death long since. Is it not on record that the Han 
Dynasty met its death because of its belief in magi- 
cians, and in their power to confer invisibility? Was 
not the Sung Dynasty destroyed because the Em- 
peror believed ridiculous stories about supernatural 
warriors clad in miraculous coats of mail? 

"'I myself am nearly eighty years of age, and my 
death cannot be far distant; I have received favours 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 245 

at the hands of four emperors. If now I hesitate to 
say the things that are in my mind, how shall I face 
the spirits of the sacred ancestors of this Dynasty 
when we meet in the halls of Hades? I am compelled 
therefore to give utterance to this my solemn prayer, 
and to beseech Your Majesties to put away from you 
at once these vile magic workers, and to have them 
summarily executed. 

"^' You should take steps immediately to appoint 
a high official who shall purge the land of this vil- 
lainous rabble, and who shall see to it that the foreign 
ministers are safely escorted to the headquarters of 
the Allied Armies. In spite of the heat I have hur- 
ried northwards from Canton to Shanghai, where 
Your Majesties' decrees urging me to come to Peking 
have duly reached me. Any physical weakness, 
however serious, would not have deterred me from 
obeying this summons, but perusal of your decrees 
has led me to the conclusion that Your Majesties 
have not yet adopted a policy of reason, but are 
still in the hands of traitors, regarding these Box- 
ers as your dutiful subjects, with the result that un- 
rest is spreading and alarm universal. Moreover, I 
am here in Shanghai without a single soldier at my 
command, and even should I proceed in all haste in 
the endeavour to present myself at your palace gates, 
I should meet with innumerable dangers by the way, 
and the end of my journey would most probably be 
that I should provide your rebellious and turbulent 
subjects with one more carcass to hack into mince- 



246 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

meat. I shall therefore continue in residence here for 
the present, considering ways and means for raising 
a military force and for furnishing supplies, as well 
as availing myself of the opportunity of ascertaining 
the enemies' plans, and making such diplomatic sug- 
gestions as occur to me to be useful. As soon as my 
plans are complete I shall proceed northwards with 
all possible speed.' " 

During the following weeks the aged Viceroy wrote 
but little in his diary, for physical ills sorely beset 
him ; and at the same time he was unwilling to pro- 
ceed to the north until given assurances by the 
Government not only that the persons and prop- 
erties of the foreigners in Peking would be given the 
fullest protection and security from that time forth, 
but that those who were responsible for the outbreak 
would be summarily and adequately punished. 

"August 2. — I think too much of my good name 
to have it associated with those of the inciters in this 
outrageous matter. I will not go north until certain 
promises I have asked for are made by Her Majesty 
and those about her." 

"August 8. — A sick man has been appointed 
Peace Plenipotentiary to treat with the Powers. 
How can I hold my head up and demand considera- 
tion in this matter when my limbs are almost too 
weak to support my body?" 



CALLED TO THE THRONE'S AID 247 

The last lines in Li's diary in relation to the Boxer 
outbreak appear to have been written at Tientsin 
on August 18: — 

►^* A rest of a few days, and then I will proceed to 
Peking to stay the hand of the Powers as much as 
in me lies. Oh, if my own hand were not so weak, 
and my cause so much weaker! The Court is in 
hiding, and the people are distracted. There is no 
Government, and chaos reigns. I fear the task 
before me is too great for my strength of body, 
though I would do one thing more before I call the 
earthly battle over. I would have the foreigners 
believe in us once more, and not deprive China of 
her national life; and I should like to bring old 
Buddha back to the palace, and ask her if she had 
learned a lesson." 

vThe "Grand Old Man of China" indeed did 
accomplish the restoration of China in his long- 
drawn-out negotiations with the representatives of 
the ten foreign Powers directly interested, and on 
every side it was admitted that in his seventy-ninth 
year the one-time wisher for the poet-laureateship 
of China had at least won the freshest and greenest 
laurel wreath among her statesmen and diplomats of 
all time. 

But the ill and aged Peace Plenipotentiary was 
not to be granted the wish that he might again see 
the Empress Dowager face to face in the palace. 
Though she had undoubtedly "learned a lesson," it 



248 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

was not to be Li Hung Chang's privilege and pleasure 
to ask her if she had; for while the old Buddha, as 
she was familiarly and endearingly called by those 
who knew her best, was on her return journey 
to Peking, ten months after her unceremonious 
flight from the Forbidden City, his last illness came 
upon the famous Viceroy, and his death occurred on 
7th November, 1901, at his Peking residence, Tze 
Hsi arriving at her capital on 6th January following. 



CHAPTER XVII 

HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 

"March, 1882. — It would appear as if the Palace 
intended to lay the entire burden of Korean troubles 
upon my shoulders, and I presume there is nothing 
for me to do but use every means in my power to 
balk the plain designs of the Nipponese. My reports 
indicate as plainly as the sun in the sky that it is the 
hope of the Islanders to bring affairs at Seoul to such 
a crisis that China will either be compelled to assert 
suzerainty without equivocation, or forever hence- 
forward pretend to no claims in that quarter." 

"March 17, 1882. — Without edict the Throne 
has commanded me to assume sole and complete 
charge of our interests in the Hermit Kingdom, and 
it now behoves me to prepare for such emergencies 
as may arise in that troubled and troublesome coun- 
try. With scarcely a tribute that was worth while 
in all these hundreds of years, Korea has ever been 
independent and even resentful of our influence or 
interest; but just so soon as trouble looms up on the 
horizon, from causes having their source either within 
or without the kingdom, she comes begging for help. 
And help has never been denied, for the people of the 
country are our people, and they share with us the 
everlasting dislike for the pygmy Nipponese, with 



250 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

their strutting ways and ignorant presumptions. We 
taught the Nipponese what little they knew in the 
beginning, which they speedily unlearned, supplant- 
ing that knowledge with a vain assumption of supe- 
riority in most matters. They treat the Koreans as 
rank inferiors, and have come to believe that because 
of its proximity Korea is a vassal state. 

'* I regret to learn that the Tai Wen Kun is stirring 
up internal trouble at a time when he should be giving 
all the support of which he is capable to his son, and 
thus more effectually circumventing the machina- 
tions of the Mikado's agents. I must see to it that Li 
Hsia Ying [the Tai Wen Kun, or Chief Court Lord] is 
communicated with at once, to the end that he will 
not bring disagreeable matters to a head too soon. 

"The Imperial Resident [at Seoul, Yuan Shih-k'ai] 
sends by special messenger for instructions as to what 
it is best to do in the event of a renewed outbreak 
against the Japanese. The details of the former 
outbreak have not yet been reported to me, and I am 
quite in the dark as to how great is the damage. If 
I did not believe affairs would be forced to a critical 
point, I would order a thousand of my men to go 
secretly to the support of the Imperial Resident to 
be ready for his call." 

"The Imperial Resident writes me that the 
Japanese Minister [Hanabusa] is doing all in his 
power by underhand tricks and secret games to bring 
about an attack upon his own legation, and that I 



HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 251 

must be prepared for an outbreak to occur at any 
time. Shih-k'ai declares that many Korean traitors, 
in the pay and service of the Mikado's agents, are 
ready at the word from their masters to make 
trouble about the Japanese legation, thereby offer- 
ing an excuse for Hanabusa to appeal to the Tokio 
authorities." 

"I have despatched one hundred and twenty of 
my most trusted men from Paoting-fu to report 
directly to the Resident and ferret out the black- 
guards. Mong is in command, and that alone means 
that the traitors will be located promptly, and their 
names and persons made known to the King's police. 
I expect excellent returns from the mission, and the 
Resident is to be highly commended for the thor- 
oughness of his information." 

"August II, 1882. — The news from Seoul is very 
satisfactory, at least in one important respect, and 
I shall soon have as a guest an old devil I have much 
longed to see — dead or alive ; for a courier from our 
strong man in Korea [Yuan Shih-k'ai] informs me 
that he has succeeded at last in throwing the bag 
over Li Hsia Ying's troublesome head, and that 
under proper escort he is on the way hither." 

"Later, same date. — A second messenger from 
the Resident has arrived. He hurried on ahead of 
the Tai Wen Kun's party, and believes he is at least 



252 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

thirty li in advance of them. The old devil was 
landed at Shanghai-kwan, and is being hurried along 
on the lower coal road. 

"If this man were not such an inborn detester of 
everything that pertains to Nippon or the Nip- 
ponese, I should be tempted sorely to make his head 
a decoration upon the Yamen walls. The Throne 
does not as yet, at this hour, know of the success of 
my plans with reference to Li Hsia Ying, but all the 
officials will be glad to know that he is no longer at 
Seoul." 

t' My Bedroom. [Without date, but probably 
written a few days after the foregoing.] — Even in 
times of stress and strife it is given to the thinking 
man to have moments, if not hours, during which he 
may retire to the company of himself, and think 
quietly and soberly upon what fate has done or may 
do for him. Oftentimes — though I have few hours 
which are not given to official, family, or business 
cares — I find excellent recreation for the mind in 
traversing back the years and noting their mistakes 
and victories, or in attempting to peer into the future, 
and see in the dim light of the yet-to-be what fate 
or the gods may have in store. 

"Yesterday, upon returning from Peking, weary 
of body and spirit, I retired early to my bed and 
slept and slept. Though there were several promi- 
nent foreigners in the city to see me, among them 
Captain Wise, of the United States Navy, and 



HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 253 

though Baron Mollendorff [a confidential and busi- 
ness agent of the Viceroy's] left word that he had 
urgent matters to lay before me, I gave strict 
injunctions that I was to be disturbed on no consid- 
eration. As I say, I slept and slept; therefore to-day 
I feel at least half a dozen years younger, and shall 
undoubtedly be able to meet all callers in good 
humour. 

"In the hour since the morning meal — which 
here in Tientsin all the Americans and English call 
'tiffin,' while at home they call it by some other 
name — I have thought much of my friend Li Hsia 
Ying, who is now safely stored away in the for- 
tress at Paoting-fu. 

"I was compelled, indeed, to laugh at the old 
fellow who has been such a mischievous old devil 
at Seoul for years past, and who, in his own stone- 
hearted way, was hurrying us on to war with Japan. 
He is not the Tai Wen Kun, the Chief Court Lord, 
now; but a very meek and humble prisoner, who 
spends much of his time in wondering when his head 
will be severed from his body ! I did not desire that 
the old man should suffer mentally, and, upon his 
first entrance to the Yamen, took occasion to tell 
him that no trouble whatever would befall him unless 
he were foolish enough to attempt to return to Seoul. 

'"But I belong in Seoul, in Korea,' he exclaimed. 
'Why was I put into a bag [kidnapped] and brought 
here to China? ' 

"I told him in plain language that he had been 



254 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

a seriously disturbing element in Seoul, and that for 
that reason we had thought it best to remove him 
to a place where he could do no harm. 

"'But I am of royal blood,' he exploded upon 
gaining his second breath, 'and neither Your Ex- 
cellency nor any one else has the right to kidnap 
me!' 

"In one way it was quite serious, and in another 
most laughable, and I could not help saying to the 
one-time Chief Court Lord that history was full of 
instances in which royal blood, when its owners were 
not careful, had the habit of running the wrong way. 
This appeared to quiet the old fellow, if not his fears, 
at least his voice, and he immediately began in 
whispers to ask what the Court intended doing with 
him. 

"I have arranged that the former Chief Regent 
spend some time in the fortress of Paoting-fu, 
where he will be treated with every consideration due 
his former and present positions, and be kept out 
of mischief; for he is, indeed, a mischief-maker in 
a political way. We have just now enough to con- 
tend with in Korea ; but a man can always watch his 
enemies, while he is never able to say what next 
folly his friends will accomplish. Thus it is with our 
good friend Li Hsia Ying. But he is safe now." 

^^ December 19, 1882. — The Hong-Kong journals 
print an American despatch which says that the 
editors in the United States regard my removal of 



HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 255 

the Tai Wen Kun from Seoul to China as a very 
high-handed outrage; and these American papers 
speak of Tai as being the great friend of the United 
States, saying that it was he and he alone in all 
Korea who exhibited enlightenment sufficient to 
receive the American expedition in 1867. 

"This is clearly a mistake, for the expedition of 
1867 was not received in Korea at all, nor in all 
likelihood would there to-day be a treaty between 
the United States and Korea but for the writer of 
these lines. Last year, about this time. Com- 
modore Shufeldt, of the United States Navy, who 
led the futile expedition of 1867, came to me here 
in Tientsin. And in this very room we two discussed 
and went over the subject of a new mission to Korea. 
Between us we wrote the draft of the treaty that 
was finally agreed upon at Seoul between the Tai 
Wen Kun and Commodore Shufeldt. 

''Furthermore, let it be noted for the benefit of 
history that an escort of my own men accompanied 
the American naval officer to Chemulpo, the entire 
party being carried in a ship belonging to me per- 
sonally, and Commander Shufeldt carrying from me 
one of the strongest letters I have ever written. That 
letter was directed to Li Hsia Ying, acting King of 
Korea, who was urged — if he cared for the friend- 
ship of the Viceroy of Pechili — to bring his Govern- 
ment to the signing of the document carried by the 
American naval officer. The treaty was signed ; and 
now the Americans, because I invite the Tai Wen 



256 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Kun to be the guest of China, call my action high- 
handed — because he was the Americans' friend!" 

In the Viceroy's manuscript is reference to a 
further treaty, modelled upon the one he and Com- 
modore Shufeldt had prepared, as having also been 
signed by the Tai Wen Kun and his ministers, and 
by [the document is here torn and the names ob- 
literated] ... on behalf of Great Britain. 

*' Paoting-fu, 1883. — To-day I had as my guest 
at two meals my old friend Li Hsia Ying. He is 
chafing under the mild restraint imposed upon him, 
and declares that if his life would be prolonged he 
must be allowed to return to Korea, in order, he 
says, that he may be with his family. When I told 
him that the Throne had decided that he must 
remain in China, at least for some months longer, 
he became at first excited and afterwards depressed, 
finally declaring that he would make away with him- 
self if some change in his position were not brought 
about. I asked him if he desired more servants or 
less. And he replied excitedly : — 

'"Less! Less! Take the whole damned lot away 
and I shall be happy.' 

'LThus some men, even with every earthly need 
provided them, are not contented." 

The Viceroy's diary does not contain any further 
reference to the enforced visit of the Chief Court 



HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 257 

Lord of Korea, with the exception of a single brief 
entry, unaccompanied by a date, which simply re- 
marks: "I hope His High Excellency Li Hsia Ying 
is now satisfied," leaving the searcher in doubt 
whether at the time of its making the old ex-king 
had, as he threatened, "made away" with himself, 
or had been allowed to return to his longed-for 
Seoul. 

(Without date.) — "Affairs in Korea have come 
to such a pass that it is necessary at this juncture 
to announce fully our position, and I have sent to the 
Imperial Resident, for presentation to the Japanese 
Minister, and through him to the Government of 
Japan, a statement of Imperial claims with reference 
to the political status of that country. I have com- 
municated the matter fully to Peking, and my 
action is already given hearty accord. 

"The Japanese have no claims, inherited or ac- 
quired, in Chosen [Korea], and we deny the right 
of the Mikado's representative, or representatives, 
or subjects, to interfere with the internal workings 
of that vassal kingdom. Nor has any other Power 
whatsoever, outside China, the right to partake 
in the affairs of that country, internal or external. 
There can be no question of the absolute right of full 
suzerainty, if not of actual sovereignty, of the 
Throne [China] in Korea; and it is high time that 
the Japanese understood our unequivocal position 
in this regard. 



258 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

"I have directed that my proclamation on behalf 
of the Throne be delivered to the King [of Korea], 
and that it be published upon the walls of the city 
[Seoul] and at other cities and ports of the tributary 
kingdom. 

" It is a gauntlet thrown down to the pygmy and 
presumptuous Japanese; but the various foreign 
Governments represented at Seoul, including the 
Russian, the American, and the British, have asked 
for a definition of our position. 

"From all my correspondence during five or six 
years, but more especially from personal interviews 
with the ministers and special representatives of 
the Powers within the past year, I am convinced 
that Japan s pretensions in Korea are viewed with 
great disfavour throughout the world; and I am 
confidently of the opinion that China has and will 
continue to have the moral support of the leading 
nations so far as her claims to suzerainty in Korea 
are concerned. Some of them may not fully acquiesce 
in our present partial claim to sovereignty, but none 
of them will give moral backing to Japan in any of 
her new-formed pretensions." 

''May, 1883. — With the entire approval of the 
Treasury and the Council, and in full personal 
belief that it is the only correct course to pursue in 
the present unsatisfactory state of Korean finances, 
I have appointed Baron von MoUendorff head of the 
Customs Service, and he will proceed again to Seoul. 



HIS FIGHT TO HOLD KOREA 259 

His several visits to the country, his able under- 
standing of the language and the people, and, above 
all, his keen ability in the realm of finance, make 
him well suited to the place. I look for better 
results in every way, and am confident the King's 
financial affairs will shortly be at least upon a credit- 
able basis. 

"M Ollendorff will also act for me as Foreign 
Adviser to the King, and thereby prevent any 
unwise moves on the part of His Majesty." 

Baron von MoUendorff, who had long been in the 
confidence of Li Hung Chang, was, prior to his ap- 
pointment as head of the Korean Customs, in the 
personal employ of the Viceroy. It appears from va- 
rious entries in the latter's diary that he had great 
admiration for the business ability and integrity 
of the German, admitting him to an intimate knowl- 
edge of his own industrial and political affairs. As 
appears in the last entry, the Viceroy placed great 
hopes upon the Baron's expected accomplishments 
in Seoul; but subsequent notes in his journal, made 
in 1884 and 1885, tell mildly of his disappointment 
in MoUendorff 's conduct, personal and official, while 
in the Korean capital ; and finally of his vindictive- 
ness against the German, when it was brought to the 
Viceroy's attention that during the former's term 
of service at Seoul he was secretly in correspondence 
with other Governments relative to the affairs of 
the Hermit Kingdom. It appears that MoUendorff, 



26o MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

fearing his duplicity had been discovered, — which, 
in fact, was not the case, — quickly left Korea, 
taking with him an unknown amount of the public 
moneys. 

In 1885 the Customs Service of the country was 
taken in charge by Sir Robert Hart, then and for 
many years the highly able and conscientious head 
of the Imperial Chinese Customs and Telegraphs. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 

In one of the longest of his single political manu- 
scripts, sufficiently lengthy in itself to make a fair- 
sized pamphlet, Viceroy Li deals with the cession 
of Formosa to the Japanese. He calls the island by 
its ancient Chinese name, Taiwan, but in a number 
of places refers to it variously as the "Land of 
Pirates," the "Island of Brown Robbers," etc. The 
monograph was written probably during the year 
1897, for in it he refers to "my excuses to the 
Throne" (on the same subject). In the monograph 
he quotes from the last mentioned as "sent in the 
ninth moon of 1896": — 

's^It will some day be seen that I rendered my 
country a distinct service when I gave over Formosa 
[Taiwan] to the Japanese enemy. I do not expect 
that the country generally, or the world, will recog- 
nise this for many years to come, for political preju- 
dices linger long in the minds of people, especially 
those most intimately concerned. We of to-day bless 
Ping Ti [an emperor reigning about the beginning 
of the Christian era] for his encouragement of sweet 
ballads and his cultivation of the graces. But, as 
Ha-Po tells us, there were thousands and thousands 
of people of his time who said that he was a Woman- 



262 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

King, and should be ruhbing oil upon the h^ad of^ 
husband. 

''From my earhest knowledge of things relating 
to the whole country, I was most stoutly of the opin- 
ion that this Land of the Brown Robbers was a vile 
spot, in which no man, even if he had the swiftest 
of the running sicknesses [reference is made to 
leprosy], would ever care to live. My father, after 
one of his journeys to the sea, told me of having seen 
many of the brown pirates brought to land and cut 
in small pieces, and the pieces, he said, were scat- 
tered far apart in order that these fierce fellows 
would never be able to grow together again. 

" But while such tales impressed me in my younger 
years, I did not let them influence my opinions when 
I could study these matters from facts and reports 
and common knowledge. I knew that while the 
island, like Boko-To, the Pescadores, paid some 
tribute to the Throne, and paid the tribute regularly 
every seven moons, this was only to throw sand in 
the eyes of the people so that the cut-throats might 
better rob and plunder. It was as if one of my 
servants would bring me a wild duck as a present, 
making me think well of him, while his whole object 
was to plunder my own fine fowl ponds. 

"In after years I made considerable study of this 
possession of the Throne which was the cause of so 
much worry to all the Canton river-men, and even 
up and down the coast from Macao to Shanghai. 
More than that, by preying upon the vessels of 



THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 263 

foreigners they were bringing the Viceroys and even 
the Government at the Northern Capital into wars 
and money troubles. Yet all this time they were 
paying tribute, and this tribute was being received 
with smiles and gladness. 

"It may not be known generally, but as early 
as 1873, when complaints came to Tientsin from 
British traders, I earnestly memorialised the Throne 
to offer Taiwan to the English Government to do 
with the wretched island as they saw fit. 

\It was the first memorial of the kind I had 
addressed to the Sacred Car, and it nearly cost me 
my position as well as my head. Being summoned 
to Peking, I was asked by the Grand Council what 
I meant by advocating that a part of the Imperial 
territory be given away; to which I replied that I 
was satisfied it was a hindrance rather than a benefit 
to the nation. If the great island could not be sold, 
I advocated that it be made a present to England. 
I told the Council that as England had been so ready 
to grab Hong-Kong we might in a measure get even 
with her by making a gift of Formosa. All manner 
of threats were made to me at the time of this visit, 
and I was requested to mind my most personal and 
provincial business. At that time I did not know 
that my words were striking so near the tribute- 
getters, but I learned afterward that while some of 
the same Grand Council agreed with me secretly as 
to the utter worthlessness of the possession, there 
were some reasons why they would not have the 



264 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

brown sea-rovers disturbed. I returned to Tientsin 
determined truly to be not too anxious regarding 
affairs outside my own sphere; and I believe that 
that one high reprimand was perhaps responsible for 
keeping me from more serious meddlings during the 
years when I still had not an army behind me, nor 
money in my chests, nor rice in my warehouses. 

"vA poor man is ever at a disadvantage in matters 
of public concern. When he rises to speak, or writes 
a letter to his superiors, they ask: Who^is this fellow 
that offers advice? And when it is known that he is 
without coin they spit their hands at him, and use his 
letters in the cooks' fires. But if it be a man of wealth 
who would speak or write or denounce, even though 
he have the brain of a yearling dromedary, or a spine 
as crooked and unseemly, the whole city listens to 
his words and declares them wise. 

'-And just so it is with the man in office who is 
not yet possessed of sufficient bannermen or stored 
wealth to make him strong. He may obtain his 
office through his learning or ability, but he holds 
it always at the mercy of some one who is higher 
than himself. 

.''We all crave office of some kind, if that only 
of a village headman or an inspector of canals; but 
that man who is the holder of a small office is for- 
ever on his back [i.e., in hot water]. Of course we 
must all begin in the lower grades, and prove by 
ability and learning that we are worthy of the higher 
ones ; but during my years of small tenure I was con- 



THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 265 

stantly miserable at heart, and I am sure, even with 
the wealth my father gave me, that had it not been 
for the friendship of Tseng-kofan, and the chances 
for advancement that came through the military 
branch — which I once so despised — I should have 
turned to agriculture and horticulture alone as my 
life's work." 

Tseng-kofan, of whom Li here speaks, was the 
great Viceroy of Nanking, who gave the author his 
first opportunity as a military leader, and to whom 
extended references are made in other parts of the 
memoirs. 

"That former memorial made to the Throne was 
cast into my face when I returned from the peace 
negotiations with Japan, and for one reason I was 
glad that it was; for it entirely disproved the words 
of the carpers, who were maintaining, on the one 
hand, that our enemies had bribed me into turning 
Formosa over to them, and, on the other hand, that 
I was browbeaten by the Japanese, and had no 
bravery of heart nor strength of mind. 

"Last year, in the ninth moon, in writing my 
free and full excuses to Their Majesties, I wrote in 
part as follows regarding the cession of Formosa: 
'The records of the Grand Council will show, I 
believe — if they are as truthfully kept and preserved 
as it is important they should be — that as much as 
twenty-three years ago I memorialised the Throne, 



266 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

or at least attempted to, to the effect that Taiwan 
was a black ulcer spot upon the beautiful and sacred 
body of the empire, and that to cause its removal, by 
whatever means, would be a blessing to the country. 
It cannot be said that at that time I was in any league 
with our enemies the Japanese. My heart was as 
full of hatred for them at one time as at another, 
and no one — excepting my own countrymen — can 
accuse me of a fondness for Nippon, the Japanese 
least of all. In 1873 I nearly lost my office because 
I would advocate the giving away of a worse than 
worthless possession, and now I am accused of a 
weakness of spirit because at Shimonoseki I agreed 
to give them something that I was certain China did 
not want.* 

''It is true that when Marquis Ito stipulated, as 
one of the chief terms of peace, that Formosa should 
be ceded, I immediately declared that I was will- 
ing to agree to almost anything but that ; yet, had I 
been in another apartment, all alone, I should have 
danced for joy in spite of all my infirmities. As it was 
my heart was indeed glad, but I requested the chief 
plenipotentiary to say at least that the Mikado 
would not insist upon having the big island. His 
Excellency agreed to put the question over until 
the next session of the commissioners, and dur- 
ing the intervening time I was sore afraid he 
would change his mind and announce that his 
Government did not want it. On the contrary, 
however, upon the reassembling of the negotiators, 



THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 267 

the Japanese members insisted that Formosa be 
ceded to the Mikado, and, after much parley, I 
reluctantly agreed. All the members of our party 
fully agreed with me that we were doing particularly 
well in getting rid of the possession, and it was 
my expectation that the Throne and the Minis- 
ters would also look upon the matter in the same 
light. 

yBut I have found that you cannot hope always, 
even when you are doing your best, for the appro- 
bation of others. More times than many during the 
past two years have I heard it said in high quarters 
that I traded away a most valuable possession, yet 
I will tell my countrymen, that they may know it 
now and remember it in the future, that at that 
peace conference I should almost have been willing 
to add Formosa to any demands the Mikado should 
make — if those demands could have been agreed 
to at all — and to pay him something additional for 
taking the island off our hands. 

N What could China want of such an ulcer pos- 
session? In the first instance, had Formosa been 
of any real value, England or France would have 
made pretensions to it years ago, and we should have 
lost it by force of arms, just as we have lost other 
territory along that coast. But these Westerners 
knew its real value, — or its real worthlessness, I 
should say, — and the island was left in our un- 
disturbed possession. If we were a naval power, 
as years ago I urged we should be, declaring myself 



268 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

ready to spend millions of taels of my own money 
in the building of a Chinese navy that would give us 
some real strength at sea, we might find some little 
use for Formosa as a naval base; but as a colony, a 
possession, or a province, it was a distinct injury to 
China from the first day it owned allegiance to the 
Throne. 

^It is not as if the Formosans were really people 
of the Mongolian race. They are neither of us 
nor with us, and we praise all the ancestors that 
this is so! In all Asia, in all the world, I believe, 
there are no tribes of animals called men more 
degraded and filthy than these people of Taiwan. 
And have we not enough of criminals and low crea- 
tures to deal with on the mainland? These people 
are not farmers, they are not hill-men, nor hunters 
of wild beasts whose skins bring in money and keep 
men's bodies warm in the cold winters. No, they are 
not even fit to be soldiers in trained armies, for they 
have no discipline, nor could they be taught. Neither 
would they make good sailors on regular ships, 
though many of the coastmen are good enough as 
wild pirates and buccaneers of the sea. They are 
cut-throats, all of them, along the coasts and back 
in the jungles. And so they have been from the 
days of Chia-Ch'ing to the present time. 

**No, they are not all even of so good a class as 
that! For what are opium-smokers, head-hunters, 
and filthy lepers? I know from all I have learned 
in official and commercial quarters — the latter 



THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 269 

when I was President of the North Sea Trade — 
that a very large number of these people are opium- 
users of the lowest kind, and those who do not use 
the hellish concoction only abstain from it because 
it is not within their power or means to obtain that 
dirtiest of evil drugs, which England has for fifty 
years forced upon the people of China. If the opium 
could not be obtained from the near-by coast ports, 
if our own merchant seamen were not compelled to 
carry the vile stuff, neither could the islanders of 
Formosa have obtained it and made themselves so 
low in the moral scale. 

" I am perfectly well aware that some of our states- 
men have expressed great expectations regarding the 
future of the island ; and by some the building of the 
Tainan railway-line was regarded as the beginning 
of real industrial and financial progress. But I my- 
self talked several times with Lin Ming Ching about 
that railroad enterprise, as well as other proposed 
industrial undertakings, and Ching — who had for- 
merly been an enthusiast — declared finally that 
he had lost faith in the island as a place of invest- 
ment. This was in strange contrast with his lan- 
guage of former years, when he came to me and 
proposed that I furnish capital for some mining 
projects in the interior. As a matter of fact I had, 
and still have, small amounts invested in properties in 
Takow and Tainan; but I shall look for no greater 
returns from them than I believe Japan will receive 
from her political investment. 



270 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

y If China did not have hundreds of millions of 
acres in the west, millions of them in Mongolia, 
millions in Kiangsu and Shensi, untold millions even 
in the far western provinces and in Tibet, that are 
as yet unpeopled, we might be drawn to this great 
island and attempt its regeneration. But with these 
vast areas unpeopled and untilled, what do we want 
of the wild forests of Formosa, filled as they are with 
head-hunters and opium-eaters? 

'^The island is unsavoury in history, even from 
the time of Chia-Ch'ing and beyond; and great 
outlays of money and means have been necessary at 
various times to put down millions of these vile 
robbers. Think of the great Kashgaria outbreak and 
what it cost! And in the good Chien Lung's reign 
many lives and much treasure were exhausted in 
quelling the wild rebellions that broke forth. Can 
any one name a single man born in Formosa who has 
brought either glory or treasure to China? Some will 
answer, 'Yes, Koxinga'; and perhaps I will agree, 
for Koxinga did do one good thing, — at least good 
for the Dutch, — he drove them from the island! 

1' It will be said by those who are my enemies — - 
and perhaps not denied by my friends — that this 
paper is written wholly with the idea of defending 
my personal name in this matter. In a sense, of 
course, this is true ; but in a very much larger sense 
it is not true, for the principal object of this writing is 
to convince my countrymen that in the ceding of 
Formosa to the Japanese, China has really not lost 



THE CESSION OF FORMOSA 271 

anything of value; instead, she will eventually be the 
gainer thereby. We never have been in a position to 
defend the possession, were it worth defending, from 
any Western Power, nor even from Japan in later 
years. And in all times of necessity must it have 
been a menace to our international relations. Eng- 
land, entrenched forever at Hong-Kong, would have 
been no stronger in possession of Formosa; yet for 
the balance of power in Eastern waters I should much 
prefer to see the island in possession of the Japanese. 
They, in course of time, may find some use for it 
in their sea operations, or as a dumping-ground for 
millions of their coolies, who, otherwise, must even- 
tually overrun Korea and the mainland. But I am 
sure that in the years to come they will not re- 
gard me in the light of such a noble giver as some of 
my critics would have China to-day believe." 



CHAPTER XIX 

ESTIMATES OF PROMINENT PERSONS 
THE CZAR OF RUSSIA 

(Written at Peking in August, 1897.) — "The 
mails brought me a handsome new portrait of the 
Czar and Czarina of Russia to-day, richly framed 
and accompanied by a long personal note from His 
Majesty. It is already hanging in my own room 
beside those other portraits which Their Majesties 
were pleased to present to me during my visit to 
Moscow. 

'> I shall never cease to think most happily of the 
Czar, nor forget the very great consideration he 
showed me in Russia. There were, of course, many 
vital questions regarding Eastern affairs upon which 
he desired to obtain my views; and I was quite as 
anxious to learn what were his intents and purposes 
with reference to matters of great interest and im- 
port to China. But, aside from all political considera- 
tions. His Majesty treated me quite as a visiting 
sovereign at St. Petersburg and Moscow rather than 
as a mere Special Ambassador to his coronation. 
The good Czarina, too, — I could tell by her face 
that she was a good woman as well as a good Em- 
press, — treated me with a consideration that is 
pleasing to a man of my years. 



ESTIMATES OF PROMINENT PERSONS 273 

'-II am not sure whether it was five or six audiences 
I had with the Czar during my stay. I use the word 
' audiences,' but they were not that. Only one or two 
were of the formal or ceremonial kind, and at these 
other envoys were present. But the others were 
simply face to face visits, with good tea, good wine, 
and, I suppose the Europeans would call it, good 
music. 

'iOf course, it gave me great pleasure to thank the 
Czar for having especially requested the Throne that 
I be sent as China's representative to the coronation. 
Another, whom I need not now name, had been 
chosen to represent the Sacred Car [Their Chinese 
Majesties] at the great ceremonies; but almost at the 
last hour Nicholas himself sent word by telegraph 
that my appointment would be most pleasing to him. 
There was nothing then for the Palace, especially in 
view of our recent negotiations with the Russian 
Government, but to send me instead. I had never 
intended to leave China, that is, as a mere sight-seer 
about the globe ; but the Czar's request gave me good 
opportunity for viewing some of the other great 
countries of the world, especially Russia, Germany, 
France, Belgium, and England in Europe, and the 
great United States in America. 

" During one of my evening visits to the Czar the 
conversation was almost wholly upon the trip he had 
taken to the Far East when Crown Prince of Russia. 
During that journey he had learned quite a number 
of Chinese phrases, some of them quite long and 



274 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

involved; and these he repeated to me at intervals 
during the evening. He referred laughingly to the 
attempt that had been made on his life by one of 
my own countrymen ; and remarked that now, after 
being a Czar, he was getting accustomed to such 
things. At this remark the whole company — there 
were perhaps a dozen persons in the room — 
laughed; all with the exception of Count Witte and 
myself, for I see no humour in assassination. 

" During all my personal visits to His Majesty he 
was as a very approachable and democratic man, 
although I knew, of course, that not many of Ihis 
subjects could get as near to him as I had. Yet his 
manner was free and unrestrained, though he was 
ordinarily most quiet if not actually modest or 
'backward.' At first I was very ill at ease in his 
presence, but when he offered first cigars, then ciga- 
rettes, with his own hands, and touched glasses over 
fine wines, I felt that I was simply the guest of a 
Russian gentleman, and not an envoy to the great 
Czar of the most extensive empire of the world. 

** Before leaving St. Petersburg His Majesty 
loaded me with many personal gifts — for the 
Dowager Empress and the Emperor, the ladies of 
the Forbidden City, and for Lady Li and myself. 
Among those for myself was a rich robe of sable, 
lined with purple satin, which I am told is worth 
at least 15,000 taels. This I shall wear only when the 
most auspicious occasions fall upon the coldest 
days."_^ 



I ESTIMATES OF PROMINENT PERSONS 275 

SIR ROBERT HART 

(Without date.) — "The entire finances of the 
Customs have been placed in the hands of a foreigner, 
Sir Robert Hart, and it is predicted there will not 
hereafter be a stringency in official circles. Let us 
hope that it may be so, although I am firmly con- 
vinced that we have native bankers, among them 
[here many Chinese names are given] . . . who could 
as well administer the office. Sir Robert is highly 
commended by the British Government; a very 
natural thing since the Britishers are always worry- 
ing lest they lose a few pounds in their Oriental 
investments." 

" 1883. — It has been suggested that I turn over 
the Korean finances to the administration of Sir 
Robert Hart, but I am not quite prepared to do this. 
Personally I have large sums at stake in connection 
with Korean affairs, and I should prefer to obtain 
my own before trusting all to this administrator, 
whose methods are sometimes to be questioned." 

t! December, 1890. — Perhaps of all the foreigners 
who have taken service under the Government there 
is no man of as clean and honourable record as Sir 
Robert Hart, who was my visitor and dinner-guest 
yesterday. In the first years of our acquaintance, 
nearly a quarter of a century ago, I was inclined to 
distrust him — but I distrust all men until I know 
them ; yet as I have come to know him better, and 



276 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

to study from year to year what he has accom- 
plished, I do not hesitate to say that in this Irish- 
Britisher the empire has found one of its truest 
and most loyal friends, as well as an administrator 
of finances who is as honest and painstaking as he 
is brilliant and pleasing." 

MR. GLADSTONE 

\' As I wrote during my world journey, if I could 
not be Li Hung Chang I should next prefer to be the 
Prime Minister of England. It is true I should not 
want to have his ailments, and I presume he would 
not like to possess my rheumatism and heart trou- 
bles; but Mr. Gladstone made a deep impression 
upon me during the few hours I was at his home. 
He appeared to me as a man not only of great men- 
tality but of wonderful strength of will and courage 
of conviction. His face looked to me more honest 
than any other I had seen in all Europe, and I believe 
if such a man as he were at the head of England's 
affairs no great wrong would ever be done by that 
Government." 

GOVERNOR HASTINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA 

"They tell me that Napoleon was a very small 
man, who did not at all look like an emperor. 
When I saw General Hastings, in Philadelphia, it 
occurred to me that Napoleon, with all his armies 
and territories, should have looked like this gallant 
American ! 



ESTIMATES OF PROMINENT PERSONS 2^'] 

"I have heard that he is since dead, but I hope 
that it is not so, for I had intended writing him upon 
my return to China, and I also very much wished 
to send him enough of the finest tea to last his family 
all their days. 

"Though he looked so like what an emperor 
ought to look, or as a fine general-in-chief of a tre- 
mendous victorious army. General Hastings was 
indeed a warm-hearted, jovial man, with pure hu- 
mour all over his handsome face. We sat together 
for some hours in a semi-ofiicial hotel or club in 
Philadelphia, and it was most unfortunate that 
we could not converse in a common language with- 
out the use of interpreters. These latter are most 
annoying to me when social matters are under dis- 
cussion. They spoil one's remarks, and oftentimes 
do not understand the point themselves. In political 
or business life they may be tolerated; in fact, they 
are sometimes very useful as witnesses." 

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND 

'Jit was a source of regret to me that I could 
not get from President Cleveland a promise to visit 
the Far East as his illustrious predecessor General 
Grant — who put down the American rebellion 
during those years when I was ridding China of the 
Taipings — had done seventeen years before. If 
Mr. Cleveland had said he would make a visit to 
China it would have been my great honour and 
pleasure to arrange for him the most elaborate and 



278 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

distinguished reception ever accorded a great man 
in China. But the American President would not 
give me the faintest hope in this respect, declar- 
ing that when his days of office were finished he 
hoped to go to some quiet place in the country, and 
no more take an active part in the public affairs of 
the United States. 

'"There will be younger, better, and abler men 
to look after the country's well-being,' he said. 

" It was and still is difficult for me to understand 
this attitude, for, after all his years of power at the 
head of a great people, I could not see how he should 
want to relinquish so much and go voluntarily into 
private life. It is not the way with us here in China. 

"I asked the President what his age was, and he 
told me, but I have forgotten just the number of 
years. I believe they were as many as fourteen or 
fifteen less than my own. He said that he had no 
infirmity of moment, and that he enjoyed the woods 
and the fields, boating, hunting, and fishing. (How 
the people of China would stare if they should see the 
Emperor, or even myself, fishing!) Mr. Cleveland 
looked to me like one who had spent much of his life 
outdoors; a strong, heavy man, who reminded me 
much of Bismarck, except that his face was not so 
florid, nor his voice so loud." 

SIR NICHOLAS O' CONOR 

\" In all my dealings with this fine British Minister 
I have found him above the slightest reproach. 



ESTIMATES OF PROMINENT PERSONS 279 

During his time in Korea I was in close touch with 
iall his movements, and it was with great pleasure 
that I heard of his transfer to Peking. After he 
came here we became warm personal friends; but 
that did not at any time interfere with the battles 
we were almost constantly, for a number of years, 
compelled to wage." 

MARQUIS ITO 

vHe was always a hard man to make a bargain 
with, but this perversity and stubbornness was not 
personal. It belongs to the nation of which he was 
so distinguished a representative. Kind at heart, 
and a gentleman by nature, he was forever driven 
by those behind him at Tokio to present a front of 
almost unrelenting severity. He served his country 
well — much better than she deserved." 

UNITED STATES MINISTER CONGER 

"J have come to know His Excellency Major 
Conger, of the United States Legation, as I have 
known few Americans; and Madam Conger and 
Lady Li are well known to each other. Major 
Conger was here [Peking residence] yesterday, and 
together we went over the events of the late [Boxer] 
outbreak; not as opposing diplomats endeavouring 
to learn secrets from each other, but as friends who 
have seen one of the most dangerous incidents in all 
Chinese history lose its terrible importance and be 
smoothed over. Minister Conger, backed by the 



28o MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

United States, was a strong friend of my country's 
during those fearful weeks. I tremble to think of 
what rriight have been China's fate but for the stand 
taken by the American Government." 



CHAPTER XX 

THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 

If the expression is permissible, the diary of Viceroy 
Li is as thickly dotted with references to the opium 
habit and traffic as are the poppy-fields with the 
bloom of the drug-giving plant in the June days. 
He appears to have been a violent hater of the devas- 
tating narcotic and its votaries from youth to old 
age, yet he frankly tells of his own engagement in 
opium culture, "for the sake of medicine and medi- 
cine alone," and does not hesitate to say that some 
parts of his estates in Hupeh were "leased for its 
culture." Altogether, those parts of his diary and 
memoirs relating to the subject, especially in view 
of the heroically drastic measures adopted by the 
Chinese Republic for the suppression of the use of 
and traffic in opium, are without doubt among the 
most interesting of all his writings. 

The earliest reference found in his diary proper 
appears to have been written in 1845, when he was 
still a student at Hofei, about, indeed, the time of 
the so-called Opium War. It follows. 

-"It is not only for weeks but for many months 
that I have laboured with my good friend Ho-Kai 
to prevail upon him to abstain from the vice which 
has found its way into the neighbourhood ; but with 
the quitting of his interest in all things I fear my 



282 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

words and counsel have been wasted. Yet I blame 
his father more than any one else, for the old swine- 
raiser brought the habit into the family, and all his 
sons make use of the terrible extract. 

\' To-day I sought out Ho-Kai in his home, but his 
mother told me he was seldom there now, for he 
spends much of his time in the walled village in 
drunken stupor. His father does likewise, and at 
least one of his brothers. It would seem as if, when 
the scourge attacks one of a family, it does not spare 
many of its members, and that in the second gener- 
ation its hold is worse than in the first. Oh, how 
thankful I am that Heaven has spared our family, 
that my father taught us to avoid this evil ! Why will 
a man like Ho-Kai, senior, bring corruption directly 
to his own home? Does it not show how low the 
victim of this vice will fall? 

vThis day, though my father has warned me 
strictly to avoid his company, I went into the high 
village in search of Ho-Kai. It was no trouble to find 
him, for the vile place where he spends most of his 
time is now known to all the neighbourhood, since 
it is said that more than two hundred in this district 
are users of the foreign drug. My friend, whom I 
met outside the place on his way home, grew angry 
with me when I protested at his unseemly conduct. 
But I was willing to stand his anger for his sister's 
sake, and for his mother's, for the family is of the 
shan-sz [the local gentry], and we have ever been 
on most intimate terms with them. Besides, a 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 283 

good aunt of Ho-Kai's is a secondary wife of my 
father's, and a much-respected woman. Yet my for- 
mer friend and schoolmate would not listen to my 
words, declaring that he now loves the foreign drug 
more than he ever did the classics. Is it not won- 
derful how a good man, though not greatly tal- 
ented, will put his head into the fu-nun, the tiger's 
mouth?" 

^^ Later [without date]. — Ho-Kai's father is dead; 
it is the foreign drug which killed him, though some 
believe that he took too much, knowing that the 
respect in which his former associates held him was 
forever gone, and his property in the hands of the 
usurers. Ho-Kai, himself, is no longer at his home, 
but one of the miserable beggars of the highway. His 
eyes are nearly blind, though he is some years 
younger than myself. When I went along the road 
yesterday he did not know me. I should be glad 
to see him die, too ; and I believe it will not be long 
before he follows his father." 

A dozen years later, when Li Hung Chang was 
the commander of the victorious Imperial troops 
at Nanking, he wrote : — 

~l!We found the great city full of the opium evil, 
and hundreds who had not had solid food for many 
days were still sufficiently supplied with this terrible 
curse, so that they slept and dreamed through the 
riot and battle about them. To General Ching I 



284 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

gave orders that all persons found with the drug in 
their possession, all persons under its baneful influ- 
ence, and all persons, of whatever force they had 
been or were allied to, who sought the drug either for 
their own use or to engage in the profitable business 
of trafficking in it, should be decapitated. 

"Immediately upon receiving these orders, Gen- 
eral Ching was indiscreet enough to enter into argu- 
ment with General Gordon, though I have forbidden 
the former to arouse the Englishman. After I had 
severely reprimanded him he went upon the errand 
assigned him, and this morning reported that he 
had executed more than twelve hundred users and 
retailers of the drug. It is good work, and it further 
commends Ching in my sight. 

"Once, without intending in the least to hurt 
the English gentleman's feelings, I spoke of his 
countrymen as being largely to blame for the importa- 
tion of opium into the land. The occasion for the 
remark was the giving of the order by myself for the 
death by ling-chi [cutting to bits] of an officer of the 
Shantung bannermen, who had sold the drug among 
the officers of our force, but who himself neither 
smoked nor ate it. 

"General Gordon flew into a terrible fit of anger 
without waiting for me to explain that I but uttered 
the words in jest so far as he was personally con- 
cerned, and declared that he should not be surprised 
if it were true that a few low Englishmen could be 
found willing to engage in the trade ; but, he added, 



0^ 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 285 

there were millions of low Chinese ready for it when 
it was brought to them. I did not like his remark, 
and told him so ; but the subject was not spoken of 
again between us, for he was quite as great an opium 
hater as myself. It was because of my knowing this, 
as well as of his very sensitive national pride, that 
I had warned Ching. 

,^" Viceroy Tseng-kofan used the drug somewhat 
during his younger days, though not to excess. His 
mind is wonderfully strong, and it is not difficult for 
me to believe that even with great temptations about 
him he would not fall victim to this abuse as easily as 
other men. If I remember rightly, he once told me 
that for a while, during his younger scholastic days, 
he felt that the foreign curse was getting the better 
of him, and that his great devotion to mathematics 
saved him from ruin. Yes, I am sure it was Tseng- 
kofan, but whether he told me directly, or I heard it 
concerning him, I cannot now remember. However, 
he knew that his power of solving problems of as- 
tronomy and mathematics was leaving him, and 
he determined forever to abandon the drug." 

^Viceregal Yamen, Tientsin, 1893. -^A statement 
has been translated to me from one of the London 
papers, in which I am quoted as saying to the 
Honourable George N. Curzon that I do not, in 
common with most Chinese, hold Great Britain 
responsible for the importation of opium into China. 

"In the first place, I never in my life made such 



286 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

an outrageous assertion; in the second place, I feel 
sure that Mr. Curzon never said I did; and, in the 
third place, both Mr. Curzon and myself, as well as 
every well-read and intelligent Britisher or Oriental, 
is aware of the unhappy and disgraceful fact that 
but for Great Britain there would not be a picul of 
opium sold in China to-day for illegitimate use; by 
this I mean for use outside the legitimate practice 
of medicine. 

'(This may appear to be a strong assertion, and I 
have no doubt it will be as strongly denied and con- 
demned; but it is a true one, nevertheless, and the 
entire history of trade and traffic in the Orient will 
substantiate my every word. 

\ A great many fine Englishmen have been friends 
of mine, and I number to-day many of that race 
among my intimates: ministers and consuls, army 
and navy officers, engineers, and hundreds and hun- 
dreds of merchants. These men know that I have 
great admiration for them and their race, and, in all 
seasons and times, for their sacred and virtuous 
Queen. But for the Government, so far as it has 
made itself not only the agent but the guardian of 
the vicious opium trade, I have a very sincere dislike. 

"I know that, because of this money-grasping, 
trade-compelling feature of England's dealings with 
my country, millions of wretched people of China 
have been made more miserable; stalwart men and 
women have been made paupers, vagrants, and the 
lowest of criminals; and hundreds of thousands of 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 287 

the weaker ones of my race — mainly among the 
women — have been sent to suicide graves. 

xAnd all this because otherwise India might not 
prosper ! 

"And all this because otherwise British trade 
might not flourish in Chinese ports! 

"AH this because gold and territory are greater 
in the eyes of the British Government than the rights 
and bodies of a weak people. 

"Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! We Chinese have been laughed 
and sneered at in the streets of London itself, and 
have been called 'Pig- tailed Opium-Eaters,' when 
for years and years it is the Government of these 
same Londoners which has been responsible for the 
millions of human wrecks throughout the length 
and breadth of the Middle Kingdom. 

"I was asked once by a British admiral at Amoy 
what my estimate of the number of opium-users in 
China would be. I did not reply directly, but ques- 
tioned him as to the population of England; and 
when he told me in the neighbourhood of 27,000,000, 
I said: 'Admiral, that is about the number of opium 
fiends in China.' 

"He said he did not get my meaning. 

^'Then I told him that, as his country was respon- 
sible for the vicious traflic, each man and woman 
and child in England might well feel that there 
was at least one wretched being in China as a repre- 
sentative. 

"In this relation I have often taken my pen and 



288 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

from records before me made estimates of the num- 
ber of unfortunates in this great empire of ours ; and 
each time have my figures told me that about one 
tenth of our people are victims of a vice that has 
no parallel anywhere on earth. I could wish that I 
might make the figure smaller, but as I have gone 
over my calculations time and time again, and as 
they include the most wretchedly diseased prov- 
inces of Yunnan and Szechuan, I feel that my esti- 
mates are too low rather than too high. 

\' It must not be imagined that I am so ignorant of 
history as to claim that England or any other of the 
Western nations was responsible for the introduction 
of the cursed drug into China. No, it came' from the 
island of Java two hundred years before the 'j3pium 
War,' gaining its strongest hold along the coast and 
in Formosa. Kang H'sai sent an official to enquire 
into the evil in Formosa, and he died there. Others 
followed, became addicted to the curse, and died 
also. Later, travellers and traders, crossing from 
India and the Mohammedan countries, introduced 
it into the western provinces; and, still later, this 
devil's extract entered the country as gifts to princes 
and others in high places. 

V I am fully aware of the growth of the vice in 
China, for even as a boy at school I saw its ravages, 
and I enquired whence it came, and why it was 
brought. Even a bosom friend and student — whose 
name I do not just now recall — became a victim 
of the habit, left his home, and was finally stoned to 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 289 

death by order of the magistrate because he had 
become entirely bereft of reason and decency. 
^" Yes, in all my years — in my studies, in the 
army, during the wars and the famines, in all my 
political and business lifei I have studied and com- 
bated this devouring evil ; and the more I know and 
see and learn of it the greater does England's crime 
become in my eyes. England — proud and mighty 
and rich England — England with her great armies 
and navies and great men — is shamed and covered 
with ignominy because of the crimes of her Indian 
poppyl 

X "It has been stated times without number, and 
upon several occasions directly to my face, that 
while I was seemingly opposed to the traffic, I my- 
self, personally or through agents, had dealt in the 
drug, having grown poppy upon my own lands, and 
having leased lands both in Hupeh and Pechili for 
its cultivation. I have never denied the truth of 
these statements, and in this writing (a copy of 
which I intend to send to the 'Times' correspond- 
ent at Peking and another to the Honourable Mr. 
Curzon) I shall acknowledge that the foregoing 
assertions are true. 

/* But I will immediately say, in order that my 
honour and my conscience be satisfied, that to my 
knowledge not one farthing's worth of the opium 
in which I dealt ever went for smoking purposes. 
I would have my secretary prepare, if such were 
necessary, a list of the high medical firms and men 



290 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

with whom I have had business dealings in opium, 
and it could easily be shown that they are not only 
of the best medical repute in China, Japan, and 
Russia, but that they, almost without exception, — 
I speak particularly of Chinese doctors and concerns 
where I have had dealings, — are as bitterly opposed 
to the habit and traffic as I myself am, such men and 
firms as could not be approached by users of the 
drug, or by users' agents in any way. Of course, so 
far as concerns what has become of the commodity 
sent to Japan and Russia, I cannot say; only I feel 
certain from the price and the grade dealt in that 
very little if any has ever reached the so-called drug 
fiend. As to the lands I have leased for agricultural 
purposes I can only say that never has there been 
a stipulation for or against the poppy; but where I 
have found the plant growing upon my lands I have 
always endeavoured as a mere matter of business to 
have the crude product sold to myself. 

v^" And still another view of this question has been 
taken. The Chinese Government has, on more than 
a few occasions, been asked almost directly this 
question: * If you regard the importation of opium 
into your country in the light of such a dire evil, 
why is it that you do not make and enforce laws pro- 
hibiting the growth of the poppy within your terri- 
tory?' And our Government has always replied: 

'Of what avail would it be when we are still 

^^ compelled'' to open our ports to the drug from 

India?' 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 291 

^' Could any question, really a question from one 
Government to another, be more ridiculous and 
could any answer be more to the point? 

>i^'I know that for more than twenty years there 
have been repeated attempts made by outside inter- 
ested parties to have the sternest edicts issued from 
the Northern Capital against the growth of the 
poppy throughout China. Mark me, not against 
the use of the drug, the deadly and benumbing drug, 
but against the cultivation of the plant from whose 
pod the poison is extracted f, 

^* I know, furthermore, that large sums of money 
were ready to fall into the hands of certain high 
officials if they could secure such an edict from the 
^/Palace. 

"What would the object of this be? 

vThe man who could not grasp the meaning of 
this knavish attempt would, indeed, lack the men- 
tality of a blind toad^ 

^No; the rich Indians, backed by the diplomatic 
force and physical strength of the British Empire, 
would not alone rob millions of degraded Chinese of 
their mental and bodily strength, but they would sap 
the last cash from the land of their victims. They 
would drain our beloved country in every way, and 
leave us helpless dupes of the poppy farmers of 
India. 

\"I want to say that I am not of those of my 
countrymen who have been in opposition, either 
openly or secretly, to the advance of the Western 



292 MEMOIRS OF LI HUNG CHANG 

Church in China. On the contrary, I have from 
very early days welcomed the missionary of the 
West as well as the merchant or the engineer, and I 
hope to continue in this attitude to the end of my 
days ; for it is my earnest belief that the sooner China 
awakens her vast body to all that is good in the 
West, without sacrificing her own virtues and high 
qualities, without neglecting her own splendid phi- 
losophy and beautiful literature, — the gifts of her 
sages and poets for centuries and centuries, — the 
sooner will she take her place among the Powers 
of this age, and the sooner will her people rise to a 
higher and better plane. 

','But it must be understood by all the Western 
peoples that Christianity has suffered a much 
slower growth among the Chinese because of this 
one curse of opium. Indeed, what are our people, 
mandarin and coolie, rich man and pauper, scholar 
and unlettered man, to think, when they all know 
that the blackest and most deadly virus that has 
been injected into the nation, year after year, decade 
after decade, has been forced upon it by a Christian 
Power? It is not the scholarly and high and powerful 
who become converts to the Church of the West. 
No. Neither do these classes as a rule go into the 
gutters and to the prisons on account of the opium 
curse ; but they see the vice all about them : the grov- 
elling wrecks, the opiated bodies in the execution 
places, the wretched criminals, the deserted wives 
of the victims, and the unburied suicides upon the 



THE OPIUM HABIT AND TRAFFIC 293 

plains and along the paths. And they know that a 
great nation, a Christian nation above all things, 
has given this awful blight to the Middle Kingdom. 
"What are they to think?" 



THE END 



APPENDIX 
LI HUNG Chang's poetical writings on opium 

ODE TO THE POPPY 

{Date of writing unknown) 

Who would think to look upon you, 

Nodding sweetly in the fields, 
That the scented heart within you 

Our soul's vilest passion yields? 

Who would think to see your verdure, 

In the Springtime lovely green, 
That the garment nature gives you 

Clothes such wickedness and spleen? 

Who would think to note your sprouting 
• As a nurtured, tender child, 
That the blood that ran within you 
Carried visions fiendish wild? 

Who would think to see your bowing 

To the soothing winds of Spring, 
That you sheltered in your bosom 

Every bitterness and sting? 

Who would think to see you pluming, 
Like the peacock vain and proud, 

That beneath your gorgeous feathers 
Is a note discordant, loud? 

Who would think that in the June-time, 

When in myriads o'er the plain 
You do look your brightest, sweetest. 

That your smile was hidden pain? 



296 APPENDIX 

Who would think that we who plant you, 
And who love to watch you grow, 

Hate you, curse you, trample on you. 
When you bring us heart-deep woe? 

Who would think that tender flower, 
Watched by children of the land, 

Should return the fond love given 
By a stroke of foulest hand? 

Who would think that in our garden, 
Where our eyes may ever see, 

In disguise would grow a hell-weed. 
Deadly in its misery? 

Who would think that in our day-dreams 

Of a home all undefiled 
We should rear — O heaven spare us ! — 

Such, in truth, a demon child? 



THE SHAME OF GREAT ENGLAND 

(Written in 1881) 

Great England says she rules the widest sea 

In might and right and white man's liberty. 

Her armoured ships and regiments of war 

Span seas and lands 'neath many skies afar. 

She sends her learned sons (in Western ways well-taught), 

Where'er her flag has been, her sons have fought; 

And vast the good these Church and school men do — 

If all Great England claims for them is true. 

But has Great England in her lordly boast 
Surveyed her pirate traders on our coast? 
Or has she, while aloft her pride has tossed. 
Vouchsafed one thought to what her fame has cost? 
Her traders, sailing here from India's strand 
In quest of gold and measures great of land. 
Have brought within their greedy hands no good, — 
But vessels large for China's ebbing blood! 



APPENDIX 297 

Shame! shame! upon Great England of the West, 
Upon her bristling guns and all the rest, 
For know we not that in this grand array- 
Is sceptre grim to lure our souls away? 
Not as a friend comes England to our shore. 
But with a cry for blood and gold, and more: 
The lives of countless thousands, steeped deep 
In her vile drug, in shameful homage creep. 

TO ALL WHO WILL LISTEN 

(An early composition) 

To all who will listen I would warning give 

Against the vile poppy juice. 

But if you will not heed 

Upon your own heads will fall calamity; 

For in all the Middle Kingdom, 

Even from the Yellow on the North 

To the Pearl on the South, 

And along the banks of the Great River 

Back to the granite mountains of the West, 

There is no evil such as this. 

In the fields we see the poppy growing, 
And the great fields are sights of gladness. 
For the eye is pleased with the flowers. 
And the scent is sweet to the nostrils. 
And the birds are happy in their homes, 
And the ground mice sport and play. 
All is so innocent and good. 
That we think of the rice and the maize, 
And the orchard and the grasslands. 
And they do not surpass the poppy. 

Yes, and it would be so 

If only we might let the flowers 

Bloom and die to grow another year. 

But men will not let it be so, 

For from the flower the poison is drawn 

And given to men to take away their minds. 



298 APPENDIX 

O my brothers and all my friends, 
If you would hearken to good advice, 
Avoid the poppy juice forever and aye, 
For it is a plague most noxious and vile! 
It will eat out your minds. 
It will rot away your vitals. 
It will shrivel up your bowels. 
It will make you walk as a leper, 
It will cast you into prison. 
It will send you to your death ! 

But not only you, my friend, will be cast down! 

No, look about you with clear eyes to-day: 

See the misery and ruin it has wrought; 

See the human wrecks on every side. 

Lower than the swine of the far fields; 

See the women bereft of home and all. 

Now toiling in the hot sun of the day, 

Each day of the long, long year. 

That they may buy rice for their babies, 

And give food to their own bodies! 

Think of the graves of every village, 

The graves you cannot see for want of care ! 

Do some care lightly for the palsied. 

Or those whose veins do hold the plague? 

Yes, in all hearts there is pity 

For all that suffer other ills. 

But for the user of the vilesome juice, 

The smoker of the demon's pipe. 

There is no pity in any heart. 

No welcome in e'en the lowest home; 

There is no shame too great for him, 

No suffering he must not bear alone. 

No depths too deep for him to sink into. 

He thinks he lives in some sweet heaven, 

Yet wakes to find that fearsome hell 

Has been his own abode 

And e'er will be. 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



OCT 13 1913 




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